My Family, My Home
by Cairistona
Summary: Prowl finds life complicated, but it gets even more so when his spark starts getting melted by a young femme, Auri. Worse, Soundwave gets shot down and ends up in ends up in Autobot hands. Soundwave once had guardianship of the femme, so Prowl, Chromia, and Ironhide fear for their and Auri's future happiness. Add an ex-Decepticon Praxian refugee to the mix, and gets even more fun.
1. Chapter 1, A New Development

Welcome!

Movie-verse setting, plus G1 characters. No slash. No pedo. Nobody dies. Ironhide and Chromia will be kissing. And that's all I can think of for now…

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Chapter 1

**A New Development**

Soundwave stood impassively on the beach, his optics behind his visor staring out over the sea. His fist clenched slightly.

Two years.

Two years, the little femme had been on earth, so close, yet so out of reach. How many times had he nearly gotten her? (He didn't count the time when she arrived on earth; he'd not had a chance that time even though he'd tried). He'd nearly gotten her twice. Once when she had wrecked on the mountain, and once when she'd run off from her guardians for a few minutes. She was an Autobot as they were, but he didn't want her with them. He wanted her under _his_ guardianship.

His fist clenched a little more as he remembered the last time he'd nearly gotten her. Having confused her mentally, he'd approached her and talked gently to her. She'd slipped her little hand into his, and she would have gone with him willingly, happily, but Elita had showed up, stopping her, stopping him, taking the little one back with her. The femme commander didn't know anything except the worst of Cons. She didn't know him. He would have been a good father. He would have been as good as father as Ironhide, if not better. He would have been better, no doubt.

Ironhide blasted into things and destroyed without hesitation. His fists were the most ready of all the Autobots' fists, his tongue rough and quick to lash the enemy.

Soundwave felt a protective anger well up in his spark at the thought of Ironhide with the little femme. Little and delicate as she was… Ironhide could crush her spirit without even trying and break her body with two blows. Soundwave hated Ironhide. It enraged him to think about Ironhide being her guardian.

Soundwave took the emotion and directed it away. Emotions tampered with his sense. He knew he couldn't think as clearly when he let emotion dictate too much. Being troubled about Ironhide wouldn't get him anywhere. He just needed to get the little femme away from Ironhide. It had been on his to-do list for two years now, and he'd still not accomplished it. He'd come so close…

He had to go back to base soon. The cassettes would probably have gotten into a squabble with each other by now, and Megatron would be wanting his report before too long. He would have to check on Dirge, too. Dirge had managed to enrage Skywarp somehow, and the teleporter had beaten him up pretty badly. Starscream had been smug and condescending about it and refused to even pretend that he had some control over his trine-mates. Seekers. Soundwave felt a hint of disgust at the word. _Self_-Seekers is what they were. Thundercracker was really the only one who had a hint of potential in him, but his belief in the Decepticon cause was fading and he submitted too readily to others in his trine. Non-confrontational, that was what Thundercracker was. He had hints of leadership in him, but he subverted it to avoid conflict.

Soundwave bridged back to base, deep underwater. He walked along the ship's corridors until he came to the door to his quarters. There, he entered key-codes and unlocked the door, opened it, and went in.

"Long time, no see." Rumble said, hanging upside-down from a shelf, his legs crooked over the edge.

Soundwave had only been gone for an hour. He motioned the little mech down.

"Aw, come on, we're playing charades." Rumble complained although it was obvious that nobody was playing with him, and he didn't get down. "Guess what I am."

Soundwave walked over to his desk and picked a recharging Frenzy up out of the chair and put him on the desk then sat down in the chair. The little mech never stirred.

"Can me an' Frenzy go aggravate the Seekers when he wakes up?" Rumble asked, swinging a little.

Soundwave gazed at him expectantly.

The little mech got down. "Can we?"

"Maybe." Soundwave said.

"Okay, cool. We made a great bunch of plans… they're ah-some. It will drive the fraggers mad big time," Rumble went on to chat about the plans. Soundwave knew he shouldn't let the little twins make such nuisances of themselves, but they never really hurt the Seekers, and it let them burn off steam that they would otherwise burn in his quarters. Spoiled brats, Thundercracker had called them once. Thundercracker was halfway decent to the little pests half of the time, though, and they cut him a little slack for it when they hazed Starscream's trine.

Soundwave began typing, and Ravage came prowling in quietly. Rumble hid behind a box then jumped out at the massive metal feline with a roar. Ravage jumped back in feigned surprise then sprang and pounced on him, snarling in mock-anger as he wrestled with the small biped.

Soundwave ignored their noise for a while before signaling Ravage to cease. The feline gave Rumble a hearty bat, sending him tumbling, then jumped up out of reach.

"Imma throw stuff at you, Rav." Rumble threatened.

"No." Soundwave said, never halting his typing, but Rumble started throwing things. A little femme would better behaved. Soundwave half-smiled behind his mask. A little femme would curl his little ruffians around her fingers and make them behave. She'd teach them a thing or two, especially this little femme. She was spunky, he knew. She stood up and could fight if need be. She could also melt a mech with her innocent face and cute little pout.

"Rumble, cease." Soundwave ordered, and Rumble tossed one more thing at Ravage before wandering over to poke Laserbeak out of recharge.

Soundwave finished his report and proofread it twice before leaving his quarters. He went to Dirge's quarters and entered the key-code.

Dirge gave him a drowsy unfocused look of hostility when he came in. The drugs were still working, then, Soundwave knew; the Seeker would have been writhing in pain otherwise.

Soundwave went over and scanned him then looked at the readings. He would be fine soon and back to be being an aggravation.

"Wull…?" Dirge slurred, trying to look at him with unfocused optics.

"Improving." Soundwave said then he left as Dirge muttered a curse at him.

Soundwave went on to the dining hall to make sure Skywarp wasn't there harassing anybody else. The Cons in the dining hall quieted to some degree when they saw him come in. He was feared, he knew, and hated. He was ruthless to them when need be. They didn't know how much he did for them, though. They wouldn't be nearly as well off without him. They didn't know his value. They just disliked him.

So many beings didn't know so much. The degree of ignorance in the universe was astonishing if not appalling.

Soundwave swept the area with a gaze and saw that Acid-Rain was the only Seeker in the hall. He left, done and headed towards his next destination, Megatron's lounge.

::Soundwave. Report to me in my lounge.:: Megatron ordered over the intercom.

::Yes, my lord.:: Soundwave replied and picked up his pace imperceptibly.

The captain's lounge was a nice-sized room with marvelous windows intended for watching the stars go by as the ship traveled. As they were underwater, though, fish and various other sea creatures passed by from time to time. It was interesting… once one got used to the texture of the aquatic creatures.

The doors slide open before Soundwave could knock, so he simply entered to room.

Megatron was there at his desk, his chair turned to the side, his legs stretched out luxuriously.

The thing Soundwave hated the most about Megatron was that he could never be quite sure what was going on in his mind. The warlord had some kind of immunity to telepathy. Soundwave was good at reading mechs, though, and he sensed that Megatron was relatively relaxed but planning to inflict punishment on someone if there was almost enough reason to. That fact that he had summoned Soundwave suggested that it was something of a serious nature and he wanted Soundwave's opinion on it before proceeding.

"My lord." Soundwave greeted with a slight nod. He hoped Starscream was the one intended for punishment. That Seeker was the worst of them all, but he continually ingratiated himself to Megatron just enough to keep the warlord from killing him.

Megatron looked up from his data-pad and studied Soundwave. "You, Soundwave, are my most loyal." He said contemplatively, "I have trusted you greatly."

Soundwave picked up the tense change: '_I have trusted_' not, '_I trust._' This was significant; Megatron did not completely trust him any longer. Soundwave felt a sense of pessimism rising in his spark.

"But now…" Megatron paused, "I have cause to question you."

Soundwave said and did nothing. Megatron went on. "Starscream and others have noted that things have been slipping past you. The failure of our last energy raid was your fault, I believe." Megatron speared him a malicious look. "Is it not true?" They had seriously needed that energy.

Soundwave nodded slightly. "True, my liege. Not intentional."

"Explain." Megatron ordered, twiddling his fingers ever-so-slightly, fingers that seemed eager to inflict pain.

"Overwork. I have been growing weary."

"So…?"

"In my weariness, I made an oversight."

Megatron cocked his head. "In other words, you need a break."

Soundwave could not answer. Megatron watched. 'Break' in Megatron's vocabulary was usually associated with the verb 'to break,' as in, to inflict damage. 'Break' in terms of 'vacation' was exceedingly rare.

Megatron rose. "In that case," he paused, eyeing Soundwave carefully, "You may have a break. Leave the cassettes, and go, take three weeks away from here. Then you may return."

Soundwave nodded once. "My liege."

Megatron's raked his optics over him. "I wouldn't want you growing too tired." he said silkily, "Dismissed."

Soundwave bowed slightly then left. Megatron was punishing him for his oversight and minor slipups, he knew. He disguised it as a vacation break, but both of them knew it was punishment break. A true vacation break would have been time off from his duties, allowing him time to relax and rest with his cassettes. Punishment was temporary exile away from his comforts and cassettes. Megatron would treat him pleasantly once he returned from his break, he knew, though. Megatron had done this twice to him in times past. He rarely displeased Megatron.

When he returned to his quarters, he found Rumble and Frenzy rolling on the floor, wrestling with each other, Frenzy arguing with Rumble about something being his.

"Cease." Soundwave told them as Frenzy started kicking Rumble. He was ignored. He went to his desk and picked up several data-pads and took a small energy convertor from a shelf. "Rumble, Frenzy." He said. The fighting stopped and the arguing started.

"He took my data-pad and won't give it back!"

"It's my data-pad and I won't give it back because it's mine!"

"It is not yours at all; it's mine!"

"You're just saying that because you're jealous of my nice stuff!"

"Not true! You don't have any nice stuff and that's why you took-!"

"Stop." Soundwave ordered, and they fell silent as they felt his mood.

"What happened?" Rumble asked, handing the data-pad over to Frenzy.

"Three week exile."

"Oh…!" Frenzy said. Exile was no fun, he'd heard.

"That really isn't fair." Rumble said. "Even if you did make those bunch of mess-ups."

"You must behave in my absence. I will not be here to protect you."

All the cassettes looked a little worried, and the twins moved closer to each other. "Okay." Rumble said in a little voice, and Frenzy nodded. Soundwave then assigned them various tasks to do while he was gone and made sure that the security codes on his doors were still untouchable.

"I will watch." Soundwave said, accessing his private security cameras on his data-pad to show his cassettes. The screen showed the room from various angles, a live feed of what was going on.

"Okay." The twins said.

"Where will you go and what will you do?" Ravage asked quietly.

Soundwave met his optics. "Base C9," he said; it was a deserted base. "Work on obtaining the femme-ling."

"Full time for three weeks," Rumble said, "I bet you'll be able to get her this time."

Soundwave picked up his laptop. Then he said his farewells and left, locking the door behind him.

Starscream came up, followed by Skywarp. "I can't truthfully say that I'll miss you," Starscream said too-sweetly, "But the least I can do is give you a nice escort out."

Soundwave walked past him without a word. The Seeker was up to something, Soundwave knew; he sensed it, felt it. He stopped, turned, and looked at him.

"Oh, fine," Starscream stepped back quickly. "Find your own way out for all I care. Just be gone in an hour. Come on, Skywarp." The Seekers retreated, leaving Soundwave in peace.

Soundwave liked none of it, but he went to the bridging room and bridged out to a place several dozen miles away from his desired destination. He wanted to fly a little before he settled down to work.

The cool fresh air was pleasant, and the wind currents were nice. The conditions were perfect. He'd stay low, savoring the flight a bit.

He picked up several approaching flyers on his sensors, but he couldn't detect what they were. They were probably human planes, he thought. They wouldn't be a problem to him, so he could leave them be.

As they drew nearer, however, he recognized the engines. Starscream. Skywarp. Thundercracker. Thrust. Ramjet. Blitzwing.

What were those six doing? They were heading straight towards him, descending on a collision course for him. Soundwave could pick up their joined gleeful malevolence directed at him even at this range. They were going to-

Skywarp teleported into sight, quite close. "CAN'T SAY WE'LL MISS YOU!" he yelled, firing his missiles.

Soundwave dodged them and fired back, only to have Skywarp teleport away. Then Thundercracker dive-bombed him, blasting him with a sonic weapon that half-way shook him up for a moment.

Soundwave blasted him back with a crippling sound frequency, but as Thundercracker used sonic weapons himself, he was protected against them, and it made him wince and falter instead of knocking him from the skies.

Then Starscream was upon Soundwave as well, firing at him, blasting at him with various weapons and a pain-inducing scream. Soundwave dodged and deflected and fired back. He blasted the Seeker with several sonic weapons, but as with Thundercracker, Starscream used sonic weapons himself and they didn't phase him much. He shot at the two with his cannons, but as agile as the Seekers were, they dodged the fire gracefully.

Skywarp teleported in right above Soundwave, and before Soundwave realized it, the Seeker dropped down on top of him, plunging a dagger into him and wrenching it around. Soundwave rolled to lose him, and the Seeker dragged the dagger a bit before teleporting away. Energon flowed from the wound.

Soundwave dodged a missile from Thundercracker and evaluated the wound. The blade hadn't hit anything vital, but it had gone deep and he was losing Energon fast now. Soundwave quit with the sonic weapons, knowing they would drain his energy more quickly.

Thundercracker and Starscream battered him with sonic blasts, goading him to fire back with sonic weapons himself. He didn't. He merely used his blasters and cannons.

Ramjet came flying in then, firing at him. Soundwave dodged and blasted the jet with a sonic weapon, temporarily paralyzing him, knocking him from the sky. Starscream and Thundercracker circled and began attacking again. Down below, Skywarp teleported in and caught Ramjet. Soundwave knew Ramjet would be back once he recovered.

Soundwave fired on the Starscream, and the Seeker did a graceful flip and dive, elegantly dodging. Thundercracker blasted at Soundwave with slightly tank-sickening sonic waves. Soundwave could feel the blasts taking more impact on him as life-Energon continued to gush from his wound. Skywarp teleported in and left another gash before Soundwave could react. Then Skywarp was gone.

Thrust came flying in then, shooting. Soundwave dodged then shot back with his cannon. He could use his sonic weapons on Thrust as he had Ramjet, and they would knock him from the skies, but the energy cost would be too high now, especially since he was losing Energon at a faster rate. As if that was the cue, Blitzwing came into the battle area and began hounding Soundwave as well, Ramjet returned, and Skywarp joined them, shooting. Starscream and Thundercracker blasted at him as well. It was fully six against one.

Soundwave realized now what their tactics had been. Skywarp had been sent in first because he could get away quickly, and then the Seekers with sonic weapons had come in next to weary him of his sonic weapons while Skywarp inflicted knife wounds. Once he'd quit using the sonic weapons, the others were given the all clear. Good plan.

He was firing at the six with what he had, but dodging them was getting harder and harder. The dagger wounds were bleeding faster now, and some of his armor had been torn away by close shots. His system was sending him multiple alerts, and he was losing altitude, too. Fiery pain lanced through his body, seeming to skate from wound to burn to wound.

Blitzwing whooped with glee as one of his shots hit Soundwave fully.

Soundwave never made a noise at the horrible pain that tore through him. He just kicked off his engines, tipped his nose down, and plummeted from the skies.

He let himself fall for a while, and then he kicked his engines back on and righted himself. Then he fired up at the flyers forcefully and rapidly, scattering them like little birds. They retreated at little ways, and then Skywarp disappeared. Soundwave spun, calculating that Skywarp would teleport in behind him.

Skywarp, however appeared below him, fired upwards, then disappeared again. Soundwave dodged the shot and blasted at Ramjet. The shot went wide. His targeting system was fighting his flight system for power. With the energy drain from losing Energon, he could not both fly and shoot.

He went towards the ground and transformed to land on the beach.

Sitting duck. That was the term that came to Soundwave's mind. His leg was killing him, his shoulder and arm and side were gushing life Energon, and the six flyers were coming down after him. Base C9 was within view, but he could never run to it in time with this leg. The flyers would kill him before then.

"And he's down!" Skywarp sang, doing a skillful spin and flip as he fired on Soundwave.

Soundwave activated his shields and fired back. He could hold them off for a little while, he knew. It would never be said that Soundwave went down without a fight.

His targeting system took full power, and he blasted at the Seekers, coming close to hitting them. They dodged, flying low to the ground.

The six seemed to be enjoying themselves, actually. They didn't really seem to be trying to kill him, but to merely wound him. They flew low, kept back and used their own shields, firing at him in turns, taunting him, trying to torment him. Skywarp teleported in a couple times, once plunging the blade into Soundwave's leg, and once jamming it into his shoulder, severing several sensitive muscles and leaving a painful gasp. The sand at Soundwave's feet was glowing with his life-Energon. The stuff was flowing freely from his shoulder and sluggishly from his back, and his leg was covered with it. Warnings were starting to flicker.

After a while, Soundwave began to feel himself growing weak from Energon-loss, and his cannon began to grow too heavy. Someone shot the weapon from his grasp, and he was defenseless. He had other weapons in subspace, but the earth dragged him down as he reached for them. He collapsed, dropping to his hands and knees in the Energon drenched sand, then shadows fell over him.

"What, fallen?" Starscream asked, "The great invincible Soundwave? Ha!"

Soundwave held back a grunt as the Seeker kicked him. More abuse followed, coming from the other flyers as well. Skywarp slashed at him some more, and Thrust thrashed him with a heavy studded chain. Starscream continued to kick gleefully while Ramjet kicked steadily and Blitzwing brought the butt of his cannon down on Soundwave's broken body repeatedly.

Soundwave tasted life Energon in his mouth and blinked as his optics lost power. He knew he was close to losing consciousness, but this he knew: Thundercracker wasn't taking part in the thrashing. If by some odd chance he survived this, he would brutalize all six of the flyers, but he would go light on Thundercracker.

He felt a sense of anguish, bitter regret. He wasn't going to get his femme-ling. She wouldn't even know or care. He'd come so close. He'd overworked trying to come up with a way to get her, and because of that he'd slipped up on Megatron's assignment. And now… now…

"Situation." Red Alert said suddenly from his computer in the security center, starting to type quickly.

Inferno moved Firestar off his lap, rose, and went over. "What sorta situation?" he asked, peering at the series of security monitors.

Firestar came over. "Who or what are they firin' on, Red?" she asked, squinting at the satellite footage. Four, five, no, _six_ flyers were blasting and hounding another flyer, or so it seemed in the low-quality image. Earth technology frustrated her, but Red Alert had been dealing with it for a couple more years.

"Con, I think. It's not one of us." Red Alert said. "And a human vessel would have died by now. I'm sending in the Aerials to stop it, whatever it is. Get the coordinates,"

The screen went fuzzy as Firestar reached for the interlink. "They just blocked it." Firestar said, growling a little.

"Musta realized it was going over." Inferno muttered, sitting down at a control center. They would have to work it out. Given which satellite it was, Red pulled up its path, and the three ruled out a huge chunk of places because it was night at them at that time, and then they started on beaches.

"Okay," Inferno said after what seemed like a painfully long time, "It should be about…"

Firestar quickly pulled up a map for the coordinates he gave. "Yes. Landmarks match what I saw."

Red nodded and typed quickly for a couple seconds. "Okay. They should be there in twenty seconds."

"Hope it's not too late." Firestar murmured as Red Alert began typing some more.

"I've alerted Prime to the situation." Red reported. "And I have a ground team assembling to go in if need be."

Firestar fidgeted for a couple minutes.

"Silverbolt's reporting in." Inferno finally said, having received an intercom from the leader of the Aerialbots. "Says they drove off the Seeks, and the Con is still alive but in critical condition. Alert medical, send in the ground team to collect him with the Aerials keep watch."

Red typed. "Ground team's going in." he said, "And I'm alerting medical."

"'Medical is _not_ going to be happy." Firestar murmured. Ratchet was going to have a fit when they lugged a half-dead Decepticon into his Med-Bay uninvited. But, that was how things went.

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Okay, folks, review, fave, follow, etc!


	2. Chapter 2, Aurion Blaze

Greetings, my readers! Thank-you everybody for all the lovely comments and faves and follows! X)

…I usually respond to reviews, but I'm a little crunched for time, so I'm just going to answer the ones with questions this time. I really do appreciate every review, though! I'll probably respond next time.

This next chapter will be a little slower –just because I have to set up things at NEST Base. The third and following chapters will be kicked up a couple notches, though. ;)

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Chapter 2

**Aurion Blaze**

Ironhide lay awake on his berth in his quarters with his femme Chromia snuggled against him. It was morning and about time that they should be getting up, but she was pretending to still be in recharge, and he was feeling lazy. He'd gotten pretty close to getting his tail kicked by Ultra Manus during battle practice, and he was feeling it to a certain degree.

"Psst… good morning…" the whisper came from the doorway that led into the main room of their two-room quarters.

Ironhide looked over and smiled at the small pink femme that was just peeping around the door-frame. He could see her hand and shoulder, the edge of her face, and a bit of her door-wing.

"G'mornin," he said softly, "C'mon in." he said and watched with fondness as the young bot came over, tip-toeing with a smile on her face. She was nearly grown up, but as she was a door-winger, she would always be small and sparkling-like to him. She climbed up onto the berth on Chromia's side, her door-wings flaring a little for balance, and then she sat beside her femme-guardian.

"'Love you," she said, her pure blue optics twinkling below the chevron on her helm.

"And I love you." Ironhide said with a smile. "Always 'n' forever." He added, making her grin with delight.

"May I wake Chromia up?"

He shook his head. "We'll let her be a while."

"Okay." The young femme said. After a moment, she put her head down against Chromia, cuddling against her a little.

Ironhide watched, and he smiled when the femme-ling's wings relaxed completely. She was in half-recharge now in all likelihood. She could be comical in the mornings; she'd wake up quite chipper and get up, but her system would still be drowsy, and she'd get sleepy after a few minutes, occasionally falling back into recharge if she let herself.

Ironhide moved and rested a gentle hand on the femme-ling, his arm resting on Chromia's side, and he felt very, very fortunate. He had the two most wonderful femmes he could ask for: his marvelous sparkmate Chromia and his darling daughter Auri. It didn't matter to him that Auri was adopted; he loved her as if she was his own. Perhaps, he even loved her more than if she was his own, for his spark ached when he thought of the privation and fear that she'd been through before she'd come to earth and found a home with him and Chromia. He did his best to make up for all that she'd lost or had never had.

She was a little trial to deal with sometimes… early childhood neglect had caused some delays in her development, and even at the age she was now, she sometimes got it into her processor that throwing a temper tantrum would solve things. But, once things were settled, she was as sweet as could be and would cuddle up to him or Chromia for comfort and listen to them talk to her about her behavior.

They could never talk to her about her neglect, though. She denied it vehemently, and anyone who tried to contradict her wound up making her very upset and occasionally triggering a tantrum. She would cry softly afterwards, and sniffle and ask why they said that sort of thing to her when it wasn't true. "I don't u-understand…" she'd whimper, and they would tell her that it was alright and that she didn't worry about it.

Ratchet would look grim about it, but he didn't know what he could do. He just looked after her as best as he could. After two years of careful care, he was able to say certainly that she would be fine physically. She would never be a tall femme because she was a door-winger, but she would be fine. In less than a year, perhaps in just a matter of months, she would be ready for her final upgrade, and she would be full-grown, just a little shorter than Bumblebee. At present, she was a bit shorter than him by a couple feet, one of the smallest bots on base. Ironhide reflected that he and Chromia sometimes treated her like more of a sparkling than she really was because of her size. Door-wingers were usually small, and Auri was no different, but he and Chromia were of the tall breed of bots.

Auri stirred and looked up at Ironhide with sleepy optics. She might look drowsy, but she would stay awake this time, most likely. "Did I fall back asleep…?" she asked, well aware of the habit.

Ironhide nodded, repressing a smile.

"Again." She said with a little heave of her wings. The sparkling-like habit annoyed her a little sometimes (other times, though, she reveled in it). She tilted her head in mock speculation. "I blame Chromia. Let's wake her up."

Ironhide checked the time. "Yeah… I guess we better." He said, sitting up. "Have at it." He said with a wink. Auri bounced a little with delight, her wing flitting eagerly.

"Chrrrrrrroh-mia," Auri said mischievously, "Y'd better wake up…" she walked her fingers up Chromia's side. "Imma tickle… tickle you…" she warned. Then she jumped up with a sharp squeal of surprise as Chromia grabbed her.

Chromia chuckled and rolled over onto her back, taking the femme-ling across her belly.

"You bad guardian," Auri said with a giggle, "Pr'tending to be in recharge 'n' scaring me like that." She shook her forefinger at Chromia playfully, laughing. Few things in life were better than getting scared by Chromia.

"I gotta keep up on my ambush skills somehow, little one." Chromia teased, giving her some love-pats. "Up you go now. I guess we have stuff to do today."

"I have my yearly boring, _boring_ checkup." Auri said matter-of-factly, getting off Chromia obediently. "And you won't even be there to aggravate Ratchet and make him hurry."

"'M sorry, sweet spark," Chromia said, and it wasn't for the first time that week, "I tried to get my shift changed, but they wouldn't."

"And mean ol' Ratchet-"

"Aurion Blaze." Ironhide said firmly, using her full name in rebuke at the disrespectful tone of her voice.

"Well-" she started to argue, but Ironhide shook his head gently. She knew better. She looked down for a moment. "I shouldn't call him things." She said humbly, "But, he _is_ mean."

"Oh, Auri..." Ironhide said with a lenient smile, almost chuckling. The little femme adored Ratchet, and Ratchet doted on her. She only called him 'mean' when she didn't get her way with him.

"Okay, yes, sir. I do wish he'd let me reschedule, though."

"Sparklette," Chromia set her off the bed and got up, standing beside her. "We've gone over this enough times that you should have his reasons memorized by spark now. And listed Prowl-style in neat bullet-points. And alphabetized, too."

Auri giggled at that, and Chromia knew she was off the hook. If she got Auri to laugh, she was fine.

"Okay?" Chromia said as they went into the main room.

"Okay." Auri said, relenting as she went over to climb onto her stool at the table. She knew she shouldn't make a fuss, but she'd felt that she'd had to at least balk _a little_ for the sake of being obstinate about a doctor's visit. Everybody else did… Ironhide, who was just ornery by nature (so Ratchet said) … Prowl, who had a fear of needles and being strapped down… Chromia, who had an almost pathological hatred of having any mech touch her (except for Ironhide; the more he touched her, the better she liked it)… Sideswipe, who said Ratchet was tyrant, and Sunstreaker, who said the medic would scratch his paint… and that was basically it. Those were the bots most central to her life or who she looked up to the most, with the exception of Bumblebee, Flareup, Prime, and Elita, and those four were good about submitting to the doctor.

"Besides," Chromia said, sitting down, "Elita will go with you."

Auri smiled at that reminder. She looked up to Elita almost more than she looked up to Chromia, and that was quite a lot.

"Here's your Energon," Ironhide said, handing a freshly mixed cube to Auri.

"Mmm…! Thank-you, thank-you…!" Auri purred, taking it in both hands. She was still a sparkling when it came to her food. She almost always accepted it with a sparkling's eagerness and happiness. Ratchet said she would grow out of it eventually, but so far she had only part way. "I love this kind…"

Ironhide smiled. Hopefully she wouldn't detect the powder that he'd slipped into it per Ratchet's orders. He turned and began mixing a cube of Energon for Chromia, adding some powered metals to flavor it to her taste.

The little femme sniffed at her Energon like a street urchin. Then she paused, giving it a slightly suspicious look. Tilting the cube, she eyed it from one side then cocked her head and eyed it from the other side. Ironhide went on mixing a cube for Chromia like nothing was going on, and Chromia watched Auri with an idle expression, recalling her own youth and remembering the countless times she'd gone hungry. Auri fingered the cube. Then she set it down, and sat still, waiting politely.

Ironhide came over with two Energon cubes, and still standing, he spilled a little on Chromia as he handed it down to her. Auri raised an optic-ridge, watching her guardians. She knew what they were up to. Flirting.

Chromia winked at Ironhide as he wiped the spill off her with a soft cloth. Auri smiled.

"I guess it would be pointless to say not to play with your food." Auri said, playfully copying Prowl's slightly cynical tone.

"Probably." Ironhide said with a grin as he took a seat. Chromia swirled her Energon a little and then took a drink of it.

Auri sipped hers then gave Ironhide a suspicious look but didn't say anything, deciding that it would be too sparkling-ish to make a fuss over supplements or whatever it was. Besides, she reasoned, supplements were supposed to make her healthier, so she shouldn't fight them. She felt a mild sense of surprise then, realizing with pleasure that she'd finally broken the cycle of acting too young about stuff in her Energon. She'd become aware of the natural reaction some time ago, but she'd never yet stopped the response. Now she had. It was a step forward, and she was pleased.

She still had a question, though.

"Why, Ironhide, why do supplements taste bad, but everything not so healthy tastes good?" She asked.

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge in mild disconcertion. "That's one to ask Ratchet." He said, glancing over at Chromia. He found a smirk on her face.

"I did once…" Auri said, glancing down then taking another sip of her Energon.

"Well?" Ironhide prompted, more curious to see how Auri would give the answer than about what Ratchet had answered. Her antics were darling in his sight.

Auri's door-wings quirked up a little as a small grimace crossed her face. "He said, 'Stop your stalling, femme, and take those right now.'"

Ironhide chuckled fondly at her, his love sparkling softly in his optics.

Chromia grinned wickedly at him. "And then he muttered something about how you were a bad influence on her."

Auri coughed as she choked on her Energon for a second.

"Me?" Ironhide said, widening his optics in mock disbelief at Chromia as he gave Auri a firm pat on the back.

"You betcha." Chromia said, giving him a daring look. They bantered a bit then, Auri watching in anticipation to see who would 'win.' It was one of her forms of entertainment, watching her guardians interact, and the mock arguments were always fun. Chromia always had good comebacks, and Ironhide tended to work a few pickup-lines into his. Auri supposed she'd probably know all the pickup-lines from Cybertron and earth in a couple years if she kept listening in.

Ironhide surrendered after a few minutes, and they finished their Energon cubes. Auri hurried to finish hers since she'd been slow with it. Her guardians always managed to drink while they bantered, timing their sips between comebacks, but Auri got mesmerized by them and forgot her Energon almost entirely.

The cubes were cleaned and put away, and the three bots were ready to head out.

"I'll see you later, my Auri," Chromia said, hugging her. "Be good in Med-Bay." She said as she stepped back.

"Yes, ma'am." Auri said, smiling, "You know I will."

"Yeah, I know, but it's the femme-guardian thing I'm obligated to say." Chromia said, giving her a dry but fond half-smile before turning to her mech. "Bye, Ironhide,"

"Mm, bye,"

Auri counted the seconds mischievously while they kissed, and then Chromia left.

"Are we doing ultimate target practice today?" Auri asked Ironhide eagerly, checking her sub-space for her little collection of weapons.

"Tomorrow." Ironhide said, smiling at her eagerness with approval, "Today we have a lesson to cover."

"Okay." Auri said, content either way. "Let's cover it."

The two left the quarters, Auri slipping her little hand into Ironhide's big one once they were on the street. Ironhide savored the closeness, and Auri reveled at the fact that she was with him. She'd been abandoned once, and she'd not had anyone like Ironhide for years. It had given her empty, fearful feelings and caused her anxiety sometimes, but now that she had Ironhide, he was everything to her. She'd bonded more closely with him than she had with Chromia, even. Chromia had initially felt a little hurt by that, but over time she and Auri had grown closer.

Ironhide and Auri spent an hour at one of the shooting ranges on NEST Base, Ironhide gently and patiently teaching Auri a new thing about shooting. He'd been training her in weapons for two years now, and their lessons had become a sort of father-daughter time for just the two of them. Once the lesson was over, the two parted ways: Ironhide to another practice range, and Auri for the bathhouse.

The bathhouse had an entryway, and then inside there were two doors; the one on the right led to the femmes' side, and the one on the left led to the mechs' side.

In both sides, there was a sub-entryway where towels were stored, and then the room opened up into the open showers.

Auri found a towel for her size, and then headed over the one of the facets, dropping the towel on a bench near the center of the room. Humans were either bothered or intrigued by the fact that the bots didn't have private showers, but the bots thought nothing of it. It wasn't in their coding.

Auri washed, not taking off her armoring; stripping was only necessary if one was quite dirty, and Auri wasn't. It was mostly just some surface dirt from walking around at the target range and a little street grime. She enjoyed the water pouring over her, and she soaped up her body, not touching her wings. Soaping door-wings was difficult, and rinsing the soap off properly involved too much twisting around. They would be fine with just a water rinse, and she'd get Chromia to help her wash them later, after their training session, which she knew would involve rolling in the dirt.

Once she was finished and had dried off, she accessed her chameleon program and changed her colors from pink to black, white, and gray, the formal colors of a patrol car, but kept the chevron on her helm a soft pink.

Then she headed to Prowl's office where she worked as his assistant.

"Good morning, Commander," she greeted when she'd entered the pristine office.

Prowl glanced up from the data-pad on his desk. "Good morning." He said, the slightest bit of warmth sounding through his formal tone.

"Is there anything that especially needs to be done first?" Auri asked, heading over to her workstation. Some days Prowl had things that needed prioritized attention; other days he didn't.

Prowl paused. Nothing came to mind, and he felt mildly disappointed that there was no reason to talk with her. "No," he said without inflection.

Auri nodded and began typing in her passwords.

Prowl continued reading the report that Mirage had turned in the day before, tuning out the sound of Auri's typing as she updated the Base's intranet site. Mirage had been on a routine street patrol, and it had been rather boring for the spy. Hence the report wasn't given much care. Typo. Vague wording. Typo. Across the room, Auri fidgeted while she typed. Vague wording. Typo. More vague wording. Prowl reached for a stylus so he could make some notes to Mirage about his report.

"Prowl?" Auri asked after a while,

He glanced up. "Yes, Aurion?" he said,

"Is the budget liaison that came last year coming back this year?"

Prowl paused, recalling who had come when and who was coming next. "I believe not." He said, a warm feeling seeping into his spark as he spoke.

Auri tried not to smile, but Prowl saw it, and he couldn't stop a little half-smile from touching his lips.

"Disappointed?" he asked, indulging in a rare bit of light jesting.

Auri chuckled softly then giggled. "I'm just spark-broken… I'll miss him so much…!"

Prowl half-smiled tolerantly then decided that they shouldn't have too much fun. His spark pouted at him, wanting to enjoy the fun with Auri, but he tamped it down. He didn't want to encourage warmer feelings. In the past, all the bots he'd ever cared about had fallen victim to the Decepticons in horrible ways, with the exception of Ironhide and Chromia. Death and torture of friends seemed to follow him, haunting him. Even Bumblebee, who he looked on as a younger brother, had been captured by the Cons and tortured to the extent that he could hardly use his vocal processors. He didn't want anything at all to ever happen to Auri; thus, he kept his distance and fought the soft feelings that had been trying to take root in his spark for the past year.

He had guardian feelings for her and brother feelings, but the most dangerous feelings were the ones he fought the hardest, the bond feelings. The years between them were few enough that –

Stop.

"Stop…?" Auri asked, looking over from her work.

Prowl glanced up, realizing he'd rebuked his thoughts aloud. He shook his head slightly. "I was not addressing you." He told her gently.

"Oh…"

They both worked steady for a little while more, but Auri was not sitting nearly as still as she usually did.

Prowl switched out data-pads. "Why are you fidgeting?" he asked, deciding to address the unprofessional behavior before it went on too long.

"I… I just feel anxious." Auri said, her wings flicking up a little.

"About what?" There was a reason for everything, in Prowl's logical processor.

Auri shook her head reluctantly. "There is a whole list, Prowl."

Prowl paused. This might take some time, but he knew they would work better if she wasn't anxious. "What things are at the top of the list?" he asked, turning a hand palm-up, motioning that they could talk about whatever was bothering her.

"Well, I am concerned about how well I will do on this site update; I am afraid I'll get something wrong on it. I cannot stop thinking about my old guardian, and I am worried that Ratchet will have more negative things to say about my childhood when I go in, and that always upsets me and makes me tired. And Chromia won't be there to make him hurry up, so I'm afraid he'll take too long and that I'll get back here much later than we planned for. And… if Ratchet has upset me, then I'm afraid I'll be out of sorts for you. And…" she trailed off as she saw that Prowl's wings were lowering. "Those… are the main things."

Prowl nodded. "I understand." He said then hesitated as he sorted them out. "First, you need not fret about the site update because I will proofread it."

"Yes, sir."

"Second, you will gain nothing by worrying about your old guardian, so it is illogical to let thoughts of him trouble you."

Auri looked upset at that.

"Logic." Prowl reminded her.

Auri still looked upset.

"Logic." Prowl prompted,

"Logic…" Auri said in an unhappy voice then sighed. "Yes, sir."

Prowl felt a momentary burst of anger at the nonexistent old guardian, the one who'd abandoned Auri. Then logic flicked the anger away. They would gain nothing by dwelling in the past.

"Regarding Ratchet," Prowl started to continue, but then he stopped. Really, he wasn't sure what to say about Ratchet that would sooth Auri. Ratchet would state the facts, and the facts weren't nice. Did Auri really need the facts shoved at her again, though, since she never believed them? She did not. "I will intercom Ratchet and tell him to not repeat the things he said last year that upset you."

"You can do that?" Auri asked, her wings lifting hopefully.

"I can." Prowl said, "Ratchet may not listen, but I can ask."

"I would really appreciate that." She said, a little sigh of relief following her words. Her tone and the sigh told Prowl just how much she'd been dreading the confrontation with Ratchet and how much energy it took out of her.

"I will do my best to get the point across." Prowl promised. "And, if he 'takes too long,' it will be on his shoulders, not yours, so you need not be troubled about that."

"Understood." Auri nodded, quite reassured.

"Good." Prowl said, "Is there anything else?"

Auri paused then shook her head. "No, sir. Thank-you."

"You are welcome." Prowl replied with a formal dip of his helm.

They went back to work, and Prowl argued over a private intercom with Ratchet until Ratchet agreed to not mention anything that had upset Auri during past visits. All was quiet in the office, though, except for the sounds computers and work. A half hour passed, and then Auri broke the verbal silence.

"I have the update ready for a proofread." She said,

"Very good." Prowl said, rising. He went over to her workstation, and she scooted her chair to the side so he could look at her computer screen.

Auri waited as he read the lines of code. She skimmed the page again, and then her optics wandered to Prowl's profile, watching his impassive face for some signal regarding her work. None showed, though. She knew she wouldn't know anything until he gave her feedback. She thought he would be very intimidating if she didn't know him and how kind he was. He was a good but quiet and reserved friend when he wasn't being her commanding officer, and he was a just and fair but firm commanding officer.

There had been one time when he'd relaxed… He'd gotten a virus, and the antiviral that Ratchet had quickly concocted out of necessity had inadvertently affected his logic core, weakening it so that he wasn't as cool and logical. He'd been a really nice friend then, and they'd had a great deal of fun when she'd visited him in Med-Bay. That wouldn't happen again, most likely. She had nice times with him when they took a day off, though. Prowl hated taking days off, but they were required, and Auri usually spent part of the time with him, coaxing him to enjoy the break at least a little bit.

She'd had a little mini-crush on him when she'd first met him, but that was long gone. Instead, she now had a deep respect for him, and she admired him and his ways. No mushy stuff…

There had been that kiss, it hadn't been anything. She'd bet Chromia one time that she'd kiss the next mech who walked into the lounge, and Prowl had been that mech. He'd said no initially, but then he'd relented after she'd given Bee a quick peck on the cheek. She'd kissed Prowl just like she'd kissed Bee, but she'd blushed when she'd kissed Prowl. She _hoped_ that didn't mean anything.

Prowl moved, shifting to point out a misspelled word. Auri leaned over and corrected it, feeling the warmth from Prowl's proximity for a moment.

Prowl finished the proofread then nodded. "Good work, Aurion." He told her, touching her shoulder briefly as he moved away.

"Thank-you." She said, scooting her chair back so she could initiate the update. She was pleased. She was a touch-orientated bot; hugs and cuddles and pats meant more to her than they did to someone who wasn't touch-orientated. A word of praise was well-liked, but it was twice as meaningful if it was accompanied by a pat on the shoulder. Prowl was about as hands-off as they came, but he'd learned to reach out to Auri to better communicate with her.

Prowl picked up another data-pad once he sat down at his desk. He looked back at Auri as a thought crossed his mind.

"Make sure you leave early enough that you are not late for your appointment with Ratchet." He said cautiously.

Auri smiled. "Prowl, my appointment is not for another seventy minutes."

A brief self-deprecating look crossed Prowl's face. "I did not mean to signify that you should leave now," he explained. "I simply do not want us getting in trouble."

"'Us,' Prowl? You are including yourself?" Auri asked, "Why would _you_ get in trouble if _I _was late?"

"Because Ratchet tends to be illogical at times, and he would say that I was a bad influence on you because of my reticence to enter Med-Bay."

"Hee!" Auri giggled, "Ratchet thinks everybody is a bad influence on me."

"Exaggeration," Prowl said, almost smiling.

"Rrrrratchet is under the impression that 89.30_5_% of the bots are a bad influence on me." Auri revised playfully, mimicking Prowl's manner of calculating the percentages.

Prowl bit back a smile. "Do your work," he said, his optics twinkling ever so slightly in amusement despite his efforts.

Auri turned back to her work with a grin. She'd gotten a smile reaction from Prowl. Mission accomplished.


	3. Chapter 3, Checkup and Meltdown

Hello folks! Brand new update for you all! Fasten your seatbelts…

* * *

Chapter 3

**Checkup and Meltdown **

Elita arrived at Prowl's office door twenty minutes before Auri's appointment with Ratchet. Prowl glanced up as she entered the office.

"Good morning," he said, lowering is his helm and wings to her in deference of her rank.

"Good morning, Prowl." She greeted, her tone ever-gracious, as she closed the door.

"I'm almost finished here." Auri said, looking away from her typing to Elita for a moment then looking back.

Elita opened her mouth to say that that was fine, but Prowl was of a different opinion.

"Aurion," he said, and there was no mistaking the rebuke in his tone.

Auri stopped typing and rose, coming to attention with a perplexed look on her face. "Yes, sir?"

"I know that you and Elita are good friends," he said firmly, "But she is a _commander_ and one of our highest ranking officers; when addressing her within the confines of this office, you _will_ address her as such and in the appropriate manner."

"Yes, sir." Auri said with a quick nod and downcast wings. Elita saw that the young femme's cheeks were warm with shame as she turned towards Elita. "My apologies, Elita." She said, looking to the femme commander, "I meant no disrespect."

"None taken." Elita said gently, lowering her helm for a moment. "I came a little early so we would not have to worry about running late." She reassured the younger femme with a kind smile.

"I should be done in just five minutes." Auri said, her tone extra respectful. Elita nodded, and Auri sat back down and resumed her typing.

Once Auri's back was turned, Elita shot Prowl a slight frown. His door-wings lifted a little as he gave her a questioning look.

::I believe you came off as a little harsh.:: Elita informed him over a private comlink, keeping optic contact.

Prowl looked over in Auri's direction, saying nothing as he thought about Elita's words. Auri _had_ reacted more strongly to his rebuke than he'd expected. He hadn't meant to be harsh.

Prowl looked back at Elita. ::I will be more gentle next time.:: he replied.

She paused then nodded, accepting his answer.

"How are the Praxian dialect lessons going?" she asked, cocking her head a little. Auri had not grown up among door-wingers, and they had recently discovered that she had never learned to speak in the Praxian dialect as a result. Prowl had offered to teach her.

"They are going well," Prowl said, "My initial plan to teach while we worked was not efficient, however; there were too many questions," (Elita smiled at that,) "So I had to implement a different plan. We now mainly work on the lessons during our …" Prowl stopped and looked slightly conflicted. He hesitated. "Please do _not_ tell Ratchet, but we work on the lessons during lunch break."

"Is this blackmail material?" Elita asked lightly, deciding to tease the serious mech a little.

"You wouldn't!" Auri exclaimed, turning around quickly with a look of dismay. Elita couldn't help but laugh ruefully at the young femme's expression.

"Oh, dear, Auri, no." Elita told her reassuringly. "I was _trying_ to tease Prowl."

"Ooh!" Auri's wings lowered with relief. She sighed. "Oh."

"You should know by now that that does not work." Prowl said, and Elita thought that she detected a bit of a begrudging tone in his voice. Was he that irritated with her for frightening Auri? Perhaps not; perhaps she was just reading something into it.

"Chromia succeeds now and then." She pointed out.

"Chromia succeeds at many things where other fail." Prowl pointed out, a hint of a smugness make his optics sparkle a little more.

"True." Elita said graciously. "She does."

Auri rose and came over, having logged off her computer. "I am ready to go now." She said to Prowl.

"Did you find my recent rebuke too harsh?" he asked gently, and Elita watched curiously.

"No, sir." Auri said quickly, shaking her head. Her wings flicked upwards. "I was embarrassed at myself because I _knew_ better and forgot, not because you spoke as you did."

"I see." Prowl said, and Elita nodded to him, acknowledging and accepting his judgment. "Very well." Prowl said, "I intercommed Ratchet, by the way, and he said he would try to not be upsetting."

"Thank-you, Prowl." Auri said, her tone grateful.

Prowl nodded. "Go on. Do not be late."

"Yes, sir." Auri said. She went to Elita, and they headed to the door.

"Good day," Elita told Prowl.

"Good day." Prowl replied as he reached for a data-pad.

The trip to Med-Bay was fairly quick, but the femmes had a nice conversation as they walked, and Elita was touched by the fact that Auri held her hand like a little youngling. The two femmes arrived with several minutes to spare. Elita opened the door and motioned Auri into the reception area.

"Awwww, Ratchet!" Auri called with a loud groan, "I've got a tank-ache, _and_ a headache, and my balancers are off. I think I have the _flu_!"

Elita bit back a smile. Auri always played up her youngling-ness when she was around Ratchet.

Ratchet came in from the main room. "Very funny, femlet, very funny." He said, drying his hands on a cloth. He flicked the cloth into subspace then and regarded Auri with a sort of repressed fondness.

The young femme grinned up at him.

"I believe the cure for the flu is rather unpleasant, though." He said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Why, Ratchet, you're a miracle doctor!" Auri exclaimed, throwing her arms wide, "Just seeing you makes me feel better already! You're awesomes!" she scampered over to him.

The old medic chuckled. "Silly." He said, crouching to hug her. "Come on. Let's get your exam started."

The exam consisted of several various scans, some taking longer than others and requiring different devices. Auri behaved nicely and sat or lay patiently as she was directed while Ratchet ran the scans. The minutes went by and ran into an hour. Auri wiggled her pedes with a little boredom as she sat waiting while Ratchet uploaded the most recent scan to his computer.

"Okay." Ratchet said when that was finished. "Just two more to go."

"And I have to remove some armoring?" Auri asked, lowering a wing.

"Yes." Ratchet said in a long suffering tone. Everybody griped at him when they had to have that scan.

"It's okay, Ratchet." Auri said, shooting Elita a mischievous smile, "I'll just grin and _bare_ it."

Dignified Elita gave an undignified snort as she tried not to laugh, and Ratchet smacked his forehead into his palms. Auri giggled with satisfaction. She'd been waiting a while to pull that one on the poor medic.

"Why?" Ratchet groused, "_Why me_? I get _the_ worst job of _all_ the bots 'cause everybody hates getting jabbed or administered medicine, and then I get things like _this_!"

"Raaaachet," Auri said coaxingly with a disarming grin.

"What." He said, not giving her a glance. "That was an awful pun."

"I love you," Auri said, smiling up at him.

"Hmphf." The one huffy syllable conveyed a great deal of dubiousness.

"Ratchet," Auri coaxed, knowing he wasn't ever as mad at her as he seemed to be.

Ratchet rolled his optics.

"I _real_ly do love you."

He eyed her. She beamed at him. A dry smiled worked its way onto the medic's face.

"Oh, alright." He said, shaking his head, "I love you, too. Now, hop down. We're going to the scan-room."

Auri 'hopped' off the berth, and she and Elita went with Ratchet to another room, one with several machines in it and a berth. Ratchet closed the door.

"Aright. You remember last year." He said, "Remove the outer armor on your torso. Leave the preliminary armor except for on your belly, shoulders, and back; that comes off."

"Yep, all that." Auri said, nodding that she remembered. She began loosening the armor catches.

"I wish everyone was that compliant." Ratchet said to Elita.

"Not everyone is as young as she is." Elita pointed out but gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm not a sparkling." Auri said, grunting a little as she twisted to reach the clasp on the back of her shoulder armor. Elita went over to her to help. "Thank-you,"

Ratchet double-checked his data-pad and adjusted another thing on the scanner machine that hung over the berth. Auri was ready by the time he finished, her bare silver belly and shoulders gleaming, standing out against the soft gray of her light preliminary armor. He patted the berth, and Elita helped her onto it. She lay down on her back and wriggled a little to get comfortable.

"Remember, lie perfectly still." Ratchet told her.

"Yes, sir." Auri said, "I just wish I didn't have to lie on my back."

"I know it's not very comfortable for you door-wingers." Ratchet said gently, reassuring her that he understood and that he wasn't happy that it caused discomfort. He gave everything a final check and then activated the scanner.

It was the second longest scan; they'd already done the longest one. This one took a full twenty minutes to complete, normal for that scan on a bot Auri's size then Ratchet gave Auri the okay to move again. She squirmed and rolled over then slid herself off the berth to arch her back and shrug her wings.

Ratchet downloaded the data and transferred it to his data-pad. He glanced over at the femme-ling as the transfer completed. "If you'll put your armor back on," he said, a little amused that she hadn't already slapped it all back in place like the full-grown bots would have, "We'll go back to the other room and take care of your last scan."

"Okay. Yes." She said. She quickly replaced her armoring, Elita giving her a hand with the back and shoulder pieces, and then she was ready.

They went, and Auri sat on a berth while Ratchet powered up the final scanning device.

"Ratchet," Elita said suddenly, "Red Alert just intercommed; I have to go."

Auri gasped. A sudden painful influx of anguished emotions came pouring in on her out of nowhere for no logical reason. She tried to reason with them, but they crippled her logic center without crashing her processor. She whimpered unable to deal with it, but Ratchet was turning to Jolt who had just run in.

"I got called." Jolt said quickly, "Got an injured Con. Red says we're bringing him in and to ready Med-Bay."

"Great." Ratchet said, his tone tinged with sarcasm, and Auri was unable to process it as her head spun with more agonizing feelings.

"Nooooo!" Auri howled as Elita moved away. "I don't want her to go!" She started crying. Elita gave her a startled look but left anyway, giving her orders first priority, knowing that Ratchet would look after Auri.

Ratchet's optics widened as he stared in shock at this unprecedented meltdown. He'd never seen her get so upset so fast, and for so little a reason.

"I don't Ironhide to go either!" she fairly screamed as she crumpled up on the berth. She felt sick, and she felt like the whole universe was going to smash into her, "I doooon't! He- inner-comm-ed –I I I d-don' wan' 'im to go!" she howled. She couldn't process any of her thoughts; there were all incoherent. She clutched her head.

Ratchet went over to her. "Auri. Auri-spark," he said gently, "It's okay. The risk level is low. Hide and Elita will be fine." He reached to take her in his arms –as he did whenever she got upset in Med-Bay-, but she kicked him away. First Aid came in cautiously, a worried questioning look on his face.

"No! I want- I- I- noooooo!" Auri curled up frantically. She wanted to scream for help, but now her vocal core couldn't process, so she bawled something unintelligible.

Ratchet looked over at First Aid. The younger mech had concern written all over his face. Ratchet motioned for him to make sure Med-Bay's security cell was ready for the injured Con. First Aid nodded and slipped away.

"Auri," Ratchet said gently. "Auri. Calm down." He carefully approached again and gently picked her up this time. She turned to him, hiding her face against his chest and clinging to him as she wailed and howled. "Nothing's going to happen to Ironhide." Ratchet told her, trying to make himself heard without raising his voice. "There is just one Decepticon, and he's badly hurt. Too hurt to bother any Autobot, especially a big, tough one like Ironhide." His words seemed to have no effect on the femme-ling. "Auri, Auri, you've got to calm down."

Auri choked and panted as her system began to overheat.

Ratchet stared at her in dismay. This was more than a mere tantrum. Something was seriously wrong. He quickly put her down on a nearby by berth, pinning her down with one hand while snapping a sedative injector out of subspace with the other. Auri screeched in anguish when she felt the needle, her emotional core unable to comprehend the pain without help from her logic core. She made an spark-wrenching whining noise, and Ratchet gently picked her up and held her, cradling her against his chest. She whimpered but seemed otherwise calm.

::Chromia?:: Ratchet intercommed the femme.

::Yeah?::

::Are you alright?::

::I'm bored stiff with the legal blab-fest the liaison is subjecting me to. Even hanging around Med-Bay with you would be better than this slag.:: The reply was snarky. Chromia was fine.

::Thanks for the compliment.:: Ratchet said then signed off. He intercommed Ironhide, but Ironhide snapped at him and told him that now wasn't a good time to talk.

He stared at the wall, trying to think of why Auri would suddenly have such a meltdown if both her guardians were fine. He recalled other instances of when he'd seen bots have such attacks… a closely-bonded creator or guardian dying, a spark-mate dying, sparkling dying… a closely-bonded sibling dying. All of them were associated with death and closely bonded relations; none of them seemed to match Auri's situation. Ironhide and Chromia were fine. The twins and Flareup were sitting pretty in the brig for some shenanigans, so they weren't in any risk of dying.

It had to be something else.

"Non't leave me…" Auri whimpered, her little frame shuddering against Ratchet.

"I won't leave you." He promise, looking over to the doorway. First Aid had reappeared, and he motioned that everything was ready. Ratchet nodded his thanks. First Aid slipped away again, and Ratchet looked back down at Auri. He needed to run a scan on her. That would be the first step to figuring out what had gone wrong with her.

OoOoOoOoO

Ironhide, Elita, Jolt, and Hound moved quickly towards the wounded Con once they had exited the ground bridge. A mild expletive of awe escaped Hound's lips when he saw the carnage, and Jolt hurried forward to assess the best way to transport the patient, grimacing sympathetically as his pedes touched the glowing, life-Energon-soaked ground around the Con.

Ironhide approached with a grim look. This was what the enemy did to its own members. Another reason to hate and loath Decepticons.

"That's Soundwave," Elita said suddenly, startled at the realization. Ironhide's optics snapped towards her.

"How can you even tell?" Jolt asked, aghast. He motioned Hound to lay out a stretcher while he knelt on the ground to put a few force-field patches over the worse wounds. It was rather difficult to decide which were the worst…

"I never forget a color of paint." Elita said quietly as she approached. She crouched and began helping Jolt.

Ironhide stepped closer, his optics riveting themselves on the fallen mech. He recognized the color now, too, along with the build. Fury welled up within his spark, sending venom through his being. Soundwave, the murderer, the torturer, the mech who had twice tried to take Auri away from him for who knew what reason. Sick monster, vile beast. "So it is." He said coldly, the sudden maliciousness in his tone causing Hound and Jolt to look up quickly. Elita turned more slowly, but she eyed Ironhide as well.

"Ironhide," she started; she knew he hated Soundwave. She had no love for the mech, but orders had reasons behind them.

"Soundwave can die." Ironhide said, pulling out a cannon, his tone poisonous.

Jolt swallowed uneasily, but Elita motioned for him and to Hound to keep working; she would handle this.

"That's not our call or task." Elita said firmly, rising and putting herself between Ironhide and the Con, "Our mission-"

"Hang our mission!" Ironhide spat at her, "Soundwave has killed tens-of-thousands if not hundreds-of-thousands of _our_ bots. He. Shall. Die."

"That's not your call, Ironhide." Elita said, lifting her chin.

"So, what, you're going to carry him back to base?" Ironhide snarled, "One of the most dangerous Cons and war-criminals and you're taking him in like a little cyberkitten? _Elita_." There was no mistaking the disgust and loathing in his tone.

"That's _Commander_ Elita." Elita said dangerously, her optics narrowing. "And, _yes_, we are taking him back to base. Like it. Or. Not."

"Not." Ironhide growled at her, his fists clenching.

Elita stepped closer, looking him in the optics. "If the Seekers were attacking him, there had to be a reason. We need to find out that reason, Ironhide. If he was deserting, if he was betraying them, if he was on a mission, we must know. Afterwards, we will try him for his crimes." A deep angry growl sounded from Ironhide's throat, but Elita didn't flinch. "Stand down, Ironhide. We have our orders."

"We kinda need to hurry." Jolt called. "We need this mech on the stretcher pronto."

"We have our orders." Elita repeated, a warning look on her face.

Ironhide gave Elita a nasty look. She looked back at him steady then moved back towards the mangled mess of Cybertronian. She helped Jolt and Hound carefully move Soundwave onto the stretcher. They took pains to jostle the wounds as little as possible, but life Energon still flowed at the movement. As they finished, Ultra Magnus came through the ground bridge.

"You needed back up?" he asked, quickly taking in the motionless Con and the tense faces of the Bots.

"Heavy lifting." Jolt said quickly, avoiding Ironhide's searing optics and Elita's probing ones.

Magnus nodded and approached the foot of the stretcher, looking to Ironhide. Ironhide looked murderous. "Are you going to help carry?" Magnus asked him against his better judgment.

"Any Autobot would." Elita said quietly, and Ironhide's clenched jaw tightened further at what she was implying.

"Yes," he ground out then moved to the head of the stretcher. Ultra Magnus raised an optic-ridge, and Elita shook her head. She'd explain later.

"Lift on three?" Magnus said, and Ironhide gave him a curt nod. He counted, and they lifted.

"We're bridging directly into Med-Bay." Elita told Magnus before they entered the bridge. Magnus nodded, and they went through, Elita in the lead.

OoOoOoOoO

Ratchet looked up from scanning Auri when the bridge opened in the main room of Med-Bay, and First Aid came over from the table where he'd been fidgeting and stood at attention.

Elita came striding quickly through the bridge into the room, her expression grim and stern. Her optics widened when she saw that Auri was still in Med-Bay, but she could say nothing. Ratchet rose and moved to hand Auri over to Elita. Elita looked at him dubiously as she took the limp femme-ling.

"Hand her over to Ironhide ASAP." Ratchet said quickly, putting his scanner into subspace. "But have him stay in Med-Bay with her."

"Hide's furious," Elita informed him quietly, "I'll keep her."

Ratchet turned quickly from her towards First Aid as the younger medic made a retching sound, but First Aid had fled the room by then. Ratchet's optics turned swiftly to the new arrivals then and widened in horror at what they saw on the stretcher… the gleaming raw metal, the mangled armoring, the nerve-wiring protruding from the wounds, everything covered with glowing life-Energon…

"… mercy…" the word was barely audible, but Elita heard Ratchet utter it before he started barking orders. "Forgot further transport, put him down _right here_." He slapped the nearby berth as he moved towards his supplies, "Jolt! Get the patches ready. FIRST AIIIIID GET IN HERE! CALL BACKUP MEDICAL PERSONAL! Ironhide, I mean NOW! Do NOT give ME that LOOK!"

Elita watched as Ultra Magnus and Ironhide lowered the stretcher onto the berth. She needed to take Auri to a different part of Med-Bay, but she knew she'd get in the way if she tried to move now with everybody hurrying to obey Ratchet's orders. Resigning herself to the situation, she sat down on another berth out of the way, still holding Auri. She positioned the small femme on her lap so that if she, Auri, chanced to look up, she wouldn't see the mangled Decepticon. Elita knew Auri didn't need any more trauma in her life.

Auri felt some peace. She could tell Ironhide was back and nearby; she felt safe again. The excruciating influx of emotions had gone away but left an empty feeling of lose and sadness. The sedative that Ratchet had given her had calmed her, but everything had still hurt. Now the hurt was gone, leaving her feeling achy. Her logic core was rebooting, and then she felt ridiculous once it was fully back online. She had no idea why she'd completely lost it back there, and it embarrassed her now. Of all the things to do when she was so close to being grown up. She hadn't _meant_ to act like that, but she had for some unknown reason. A sickening panic had overtaken her, and she'd not known _how_ to respond to it, so she'd just had a meltdown.

It was painfully confusing. She felt like crying now, just crying; an overwhelming feeling of sorrow and grief was settling over her.

She sniffled softly. What if she never saw anybody she loved again? What if someone died…? She realized that these were more of those thoughts that had flooded her system earlier, but she couldn't understand why she was experiencing them, and it troubled her. She needed… she needed her mech guardian.

"Ironhide…" she murmured softly. She needed her mech guardian badly, more than anything.

"'Hide," Elita called unobtrusively, not wanting to bother the medics. Ironhide, Decepticon life-Energon on him, looked over then came over.

"Hey," he greeted Auri gently, "What's wrong?" he asked her softly,

She reached for him. He came close and put his arms around her as she grabbed him and clung to him.

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge. "Know what's going on?" he asked Elita softly. Their optics met, and he saw her put his earlier insubordination behind her for the time being. She didn't begrudge him.

The femme shook her head as she got up. "She pitched a fit when I started to leave and started screaming when she got your intercom about you leaving, but that's all I know." She said. "Ratchet was scanner her when I came back."

"Mm-kay…" Ironhide murmured, looking pensive. "You wanna talk about something, Auri?" he asked gently.

"No…" she whispered, clinging to him more tightly. There weren't words to explain it all.

Elita reached over, putting a hand on Auri's back. "Do you feel sick?" she asked gently.

"Y…n… uh…" Auri pressed her head hard against Ironhide as if she was trying burrow into his shoulder. "I don' know what's wrong with me…"

Ironhide looked more concerned then. He couldn't feel any of Auri's angst over his bond with her as he usually did, and it was puzzling him. It was almost troubling than her unprecedented meltdown.

Elita held up a piece of copper candy. She knew it wouldn't really solve anything, but it might make Auri cheer up a tiny bit; the femme-ling loved candy.

"Auri," Ironhide said, rubbing her chin tenderly with his finger. "Do you want some candy?"

"Soundwave…" the word was uttered so softly that Ironhide and Elita would have missed it if they'd not been so close. Ironhide's optics widened. No one had said anything about Soundwave.

"What about Soundwave?" Elita asked gently, putting a hand on Auri's back.

"I don't know," Auri said, putting her head up and looking confused. "Where is Soundwave?" she sounded perplexed.

"He's in Med-Bay." Elita said, her optics moving from Auri to Ironhide's optics.

Auri pushed Elita's hand away distractedly. "Soundwave…" She tried to look around Med-Bay but Ironhide had turned so she couldn't see the Con.

"Soundwave can't hurt you, Auri," Elita started to say, but Auri cut her off in a distracted manner.

"He _needs_ me." Auri said, "He… I… I… don't know. He…" Auri stopped and gave herself a confused look, trying to figure out why she'd felt that.

Ironhide's face was the picture of shocked consternation; he was too bewildered to be enraged. "Auri, why?" he asked, sounding completely out of his league. He wasn't about to let her see the Con's grotesquely mangled form, but he wondered at her words.

Auri shook her head calmly. "I don't know, Ironhide." she said softly, a little frown creasing her brow. "He just does. He can't hurt me. H… he needs to see me."

Ironhide looked over at Elita, raising his optic-ridges. She lifted her shoulders; she was as uncertain as he was at this point.

"Ironhide, _please_," Auri said earnestly, tugging on his shoulder armor a little, "I don't know why, but I feel-" she broke off as Ironhide's looked suddenly grew ferocious.

"D- telepath." He growled forcefully. Auri's optic's widened. Ironhide placed all blame for Auri's distress on the war criminal now. "Auri, no. You're not going near him."

"Ironhide," Auri looked frustrated, "I don't understand why, but he nee-"

"He's war criminal, Aurion." Ironhide stated grimly. "_Understand __that_. He's tried to kidnap you _twice_ now for who knows what, and he's a mind criminal as well, one who's _fragmented_ and destroyed processors _violently_ with his own. Remember how he infiltrated your processor and kept you from realizing that he was trying to kidnap you? _Remember_?"

"He wasn't going to hurt me."

"That's what he _told_ you; that is _not_ fact."

"HEY!" Ratchet snapped at them, and Ironhide jerked around automatically.

Auri gasped in horror, and Ironhide felt her stiffen with shock as she saw Soundwave's mangled body. Ironhide felt a feeling of sickness wash over him suddenly as he realized that he'd let Auri see what he'd been trying to protect her from.

"Down." Auri struggled, "Put me down."

Ironhide felt semi-paralyzed, and a sickening sense of guilt twisted through his spark. "No, Auri," he whispered.

Tears welled up in her optics. "At least take me over to him?" she pleaded in a tiny voice, "Maybe… he just wants to say sorry…?" She whimpered as she spoke, and Ironhide's optics fell.

He felt a sense of shame then; Auri was ready to forgive and reconcile where he had been ready to condemn. He nodded, his optics downcast. "Alright." He murmured. He glanced over at the Con. He would give the Con one last chance. One.

* * *

O.O How about all that?! Thanks in advance for the reviews; I'm super looking forward to all your reactions! *evil grin*


	4. Chapter 4, Revelations

Chapter 4

**Revelations**

Once Ratchet saw his mangled Decepticon patient, Med-Bay went on full alert, and "Decepticon" was not a descriptor of the Cybertronian lying on the berth anymore. A patient was a patient regardless of rank or faction. Ratchet didn't even think about it. He'd didn't even think about not thinking about it. It was just so.

A network of force-fields was put into place under the patient so that the medics could tend the wounds on his back as well as those on his front. Scanners were engaged to pinpoint the exact locations of the most dangerous wounds first and then to repeat the scan again to locate the less critical wounds.

Jolt and First Aid began removing the mangled armor from the patient's body and placing temporary patches over the wounds, First Aid having gotten over his initial nausea. First Aid hadn't signed up to serve as a field doctor, but, as his selected earth name denoted, for first aid. Back on Cybertron, he'd worked in a sparklings' clinic. Gore wasn't his thing. He'd grown slightly used to it during his ages of service, but occasionally the shock factor hit him when he saw someone particularly mangled or in a worse condition than he'd presupposed that that someone would be.

Ratchet was working on putting temporary patches in place, too. With the number of wounds and cuts, the Energon loss would be too high if he simply began working on long-term repairs. His fingers moved with quick efficiency, his optics sharply focused on the details of each wound as he worked. He mentally logged all that he did for future reference and the inevitable reports that he would be filing, and he made mental notes about each wound for when he came back through for long-term patches and repairs.

"He's leaking life-En like a sieve." Jolt muttered, glancing at the puddles forming on the berth.

Firestar came jogging in and stopped short, her optics widening. Her mouth opened for a second, but then she shut it and hurried to the sink to sanitize her hands. Although not a full time member of the Med-Bay crew, she was part of the backup medical team. "What first, Ratchet?" she asked quickly as she dried her hands swiftly but thoroughly.

"Short term patches." Ratchet said, not looking up from his work.

"Ratch- he needs immediate long-term patching here," Jolt said, motioning quickly to part of the patient's back that he'd gotten to.

"Got it." Ratchet said, "Fires," he motioned for Firestar to take his position as he moved away. He went to the other side of the berth to where Jolt was. Then he cursed quietly.

Bumblebee burst in, his cooling system gusting a little. "_That doesn't look good,_" he darted for the sink. He'd never been officially trained for medical service, but like all battle bots, he knew first aid, and on top of that, he'd spent enough time in Med-Bay for Ratchet to teach him a few things. He mainly just fetched necessary items or cleaned tools, but he could deal with more serious things as needed. Ratchet had him on the medical backup list for a number of reasons, but especially because he worked well and followed orders quickly.

"More hands?" Ratchet said when Bee came over, "Good. Hold-"

Bee cupped his hands and held the tool that Ratchet dropped in it. Then he handed it back moments later when Ratchet reached for it again. Ratchet was glad to have Bee there now; he'd speed up his process.

An alert pinged on the medical read-out on Ratchet's internal scanner.

"Ratchet-" First Aid and Jolt both said; they'd been scanning, too.

"I got it." Ratchet said, snatching Bee's hand and pressing it against the channeling he'd been repairing. "Hold firm." He said as he hurried away.

"What?" Firestar asked the two junior medics, not pausing her work.

"Energon depletion hit the level before the critical level." Jolt said, his face a mask, "Transfusion time."

Ratchet came back with the transfusion apparatus and set it under the berth, drawing some tubing up from it. He wasn't even sure if the necessary Energon channels in the patient's arm were intact enough for the transfusion to work. He considered inserting it into the chest… which he'd done before, but it hadn't been easy or fun. The process was exacting…

Ratchet's optics narrowed in on the patient's arm, scanning it. In a second, he knew he'd have to go for the chest. He gave Jolt a look, and Jolt wincingly helped Ratchet remove the patient's scorched chest armoring. Ratchet then drew out the needle and began scanning for the correct Energon channel to insert it in. Ironhide and Auri were discussing something in the background, and Ironhide was starting to sound a little too opinionated. It was distracting.

"HEY!" Ratchet snapped at him, and then it got quiet. He could work now. He found the channel and carefully worked the needle into it then started the pump.

He looked up and found Bee's wide concerned optics on him, Bee still holding his hands firmly against the unfinished repairs on the back wound.

"That should stabilize the Energon levels," Ratchet told him, choosing to not tell him about all the if's or the odds. The odds weren't pretty ones. They had a chance, though. The patient had a small chance.

OoOoOoOoO

(Before Soundwave's transport to Med-Bay)

On the sandy beach, Soundwave hovered near stasis. He felt it near, waiting for him, it seemed. It would devour him in moments if he let it. Stasis was hard to fight, but he fought it. Over half his body was in stasis, but his mind wasn't, and he wanted to keep it that way. He wanted to know. Knowledge was power, life.

The Autobots' horrified shock came in rippling waves, and he knew they were coming from him. He heard nothing, saw nothing, smelled nothing, but he sensed everything through thought-waves.

A wave of sympathy rushed in, and grew stronger as its bearer drew near. A medic's feelings. Soundwave felt a mild sense of relief at that. A medic meant they might try to save him. Or, they would offline him mercifully. Given what high rank he was and what valuable information he could be holding, though, he knew they would sooner try to save him than shoot him.

Startled recognition came over the waves, then, from another bot. Startled recognition, a femme's conflicted feeling, then a little rage, a little frustration, a little fright… a smooth flow in changing feelings from one being. The fright was pushed away by resolve and personal feelings set aside. A strong femme, Soundwave decided.

There was another being with stronger feelings, though, ones that charged forwards. A feeling of furious disbelieve slammed into him, nearly drowning out the medic's surprise. The femme was distrustful, remembering the close call her young friend had had –Elita, Soundwave realized. The femme was Elita.

Elita's calmness was strong, and Soundwave liked it, took strength from it. Soundwave knew there were words, but he could not hear. He relied on the feelings that swirled and crashed in the air. There was venom in the air, enraged fury that sickened and destroyed, a vicious, murderous, personally malicious feeling that would tear through anything to protect the femmeling. It was Ironhide, Soundwave realized, and there was no doubt in his mind about that. Ironhide. Rage.

Soundwave felt the medic and his friend suddenly become ill at ease, and Elita's will braced itself. He felt Elita's dislike for him, but he drew comfort from the fact that her resolve to follow orders was stronger than her dislike of him, firm, unyielding.

The poisonous waves from Ironhide increased, a deadly calm mixing with them. Soundwave never let himself feel fear, but acknowledging his current condition, he knew he had every right to feel fear. Ironhide's intent was to shoot him on the spot. The medic's unease increased, but Elita's firmness of resolve gave him a sort of hope. Ironic hope.

Fury and rage emanated from Ironhide, and Elita's will hardened, her personal feelings of friendship for Ironhide disappearing as her commander personality came to the forefront.

Ironhide was disgusted with Elita's call, and he loathed her for being in command at the moment, loathed the fact that something he furiously wanted was within reach but withheld from him.

Elita drew strength from her calm outrage in a way that gave Soundwave a chill of pleasure. Outrage alone was not a good emotion, but when another emotion was attached to it, it grew powerful; it could then either overpower a being or empower the being. Few had the discipline to let it empower them, but Soundwave reveled in those few who did.

Rebellion and insubordination blazed from Ironhide's being, set off by Elita's display of command, and the rage increased. The medic's fear had been increasing all along, but now it hit desperation. _We need backup_, his being said, and then he seemed reassured. Soundwave deduced that a quick intercom had been sent. Backup would come. Soundwave felt faint, though, as if some vital sign was lowering. The medic grew concerned; they needed to hurry.

Ironhide's insubordination turned into resistance, and Elita's disappointment with him cascaded down like a flood, and she grew stressed, knowing she would have to deal with him later. Soundwave hesitated then blocked out the emotions. The overabundance of negative emotions was going to tax him in this state.

Then he unblocked some of them, not able to standing being completely blind. He limited them so he only received the ones from Elita. He didn't need the concern or sympathy of the medic, or the concern of the other bot. Any other day he would have feasted on Ironhide's fury, but not today, not now. Elita's strength was a quiet one, one that could be trusted and depended on.

He felt her surprise when backup came and her curiosity towards the medic. He inwardly smiled at her grim, quiet accusation towards Ironhide and wondered at the bit of regret that followed. She regretted Ironhide's actions. He sensed her ready herself for the next phase, and then he physically felt the stretcher he was now on being lifted up.

He felt himself fade as Elita moved away. No… He struggled… but then she was closer again.

Something surprised and stressed her when they entered Med-Bay, and Soundwave caught onto the feeling and held onto it, gaining a tenuous grasp on her.

Auri.

Auri was in Med-Bay. In that very room.

Soundwave mentally dropped Elita. He exerted some of his precious draining energy to find Auri's signal. There she was. She been sickened and upset for some reason she didn't know. Soundwave was grieved at that. His sorrow became her sorrow, and she needed someone. She didn't know who, but she sought Ironhide.

Soundwave grew frustrated. Ironhide would separate them, take her away. He…

He felt his power weaken a little more as Ironhide came between them. He felt anger at the injustice. Ironhide was not going to deprive him of Auri in his last hour -if this was indeed his last hour.

_Mine_. Soundwave knew the weakness in Auri's guardian bond and used it, accessing it. Out, Ironhide; she is Mine.

Auri thought of him, Soundwave, and grew curious.

Yes. He tugged on the bond a little, and she grew confused, perplexed.

_I need you_.

Auri's feelings began to stir at that, but then confusion slowed them. She puzzled through them, but found no answer.

_I'll not hurt. I need you._

Auri followed this time, but cringed, feeling a little frightened at Ironhide's sudden displeasure. She didn't want to displease him. Then she was frustrated that he wasn't listening to her, for he usually listened to her.

"Hey!" Ratchet snapped. Then Soundwave felt nearly choked at Auri's horror. She'd seen him, he realized. He latched onto her strong emotion and tugged at it. She grew upset with Ironhide. Then she grew miserable, pleading. She wanted to forgive Soundwave, let him go in peace. She begged Ironhide because it was what an Autobot did; an Autobot made things right. Hope hung in the air, and Soundwave grasped it. Then he knew that Ironhide said yes. He felt a tiny new bit of strength enter his spark.

OoOoOoOoO

Ironhide, still holding Auri, walked slowly over towards the hubbub of medical activity. Elita followed closely. Bumblebee flicked his wings at them. 'Horrors! Why are you bringing Auri?!' the motion seemed to say, as well as, 'BAD timing, Ironhide!'

Ironhide slowed as he neared the Con, his intense hate and distrust for the monster welling up again.

Ratchet looked up, saw Ironhide and Auri, and looked extremely displeased and disapproving. "Ironhide. What-"

"Mine." Auri said quickly, "I mean, my… I…"

"She says Soundwave wants to see her." Elita said calmly, quietly when Ironhide failed to say anything.

"Glitching no." Ratchet said. "He's not seeing anybody."

"Ratch," Jolt said uncertainly, stepping back a little. Ratchet. Soundwave's hand was moving, the first movement he'd made since they'd retrieved him. It turned slowly, haltingly, then wavered and stopped, its palm facing his side instead of the berth. Then the forefinger moved, motioning minutely.

"He can sense me." Auri said in a small voice, "I mean that kind of see…"

"He can hurt you is what he can do." Ratchet said, turning back to work on the Decepticon. "The readings on his cognitive activity are too high for someone in this condition because he's a telepath. Telepathically, he could still hurt you. Ironhide, take her away."

Ironhide hesitated as Auri's hand clutched at his armoring.

"R-Ratchet-!" Auri cried, "He doesn't want to hurt me!" she stuffed a fist against her one of optics, "He just wants to… say something!"

"He can say it later if he lives." Ratchet snapped as he dropped a piece of debris in Bee's waiting hands.

Auri whimpered. "You're mean. He just… I can feel him."

"Go." Ratchet ordered sharply.

Auri made an unhappy sound as Ironhide stepped back. "Auri, baby, we have to obey Ratchet." Ironhide told her gently, sorry that she was upset, but secretly relieved that he didn't have to take her near the Decepticon brute.

"Vitals dropping-!" First Aid said, jumping to the monitoring device.

"Hide, Ratchet." Elita said suddenly, her tone free from any inflection. "I think Auri has a point. Bring her back."

Ironhide gave her a stare. "What? You heard Ratchet."

"I changed my mind." Ratchet said flatly, as he pulled a piece of shrapnel from his patient's body, "Bring her back."

Ironhide hesitated. He had a strong will, and right now it didn't want to take Auri anywhere the Con, particularly after what Ratchet had just said about him being able to hurt her telepathically.

"That's an order." The femme commander said, her tone dangerously gentle.

Ironhide's jaw tightened. His feet refused to move, but he lowered Auri to the floor.

Auri gave the tall bots quick looks of fear but darted over to the berth. Ironhide clenched his fists in an angry, helpless gesture.

"Soundwave," she said gently, approaching the berth. Carefully but quickly, she climbed onto the berth to sit beside him, Ratchet giving her a boost. "I'm here now, Soundwave." She touched the back of his hand hesitantly and found that gentle feelings emanated from it.

Soundwave was content now. He had Auri at his side, her hand on his, her voice speaking to him.

"Vitals… no longer dropping…" First Aid said slowly, a look of amazed disbelief on his face as he turned to Elita. "How…?"

"I noticed that they rose a little when we approached," Elita said, not taking her optics off Ironhide, "But I hadn't thought anything of it until the dropped when we, or rather, Auri, left."

"Ohhh," First Aid stepped away from the monitor and went back to help with the patching.

"Magnus," Elita said, turning to the commander,

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Keep an optic on Ironhide." she said. He nodded then moved over closer to Ironhide, positioning himself so that he could quickly stop Ironhide from doing anything, if need be.

Elita went over to Auri, and put a hand on her back. "Well…?" she questioned gently.

Auri looked up at her. "He's content that I'm here." She said softly before looking down. "He's dangerously wounded, though, isn't he…" it was a tentative, questioning statement.

Elita looked over at Ratchet. The Ratchet looked sideways then down and gave a half shrug.

"He _is_ pretty hurt." Elita said gently, rubbing her thumb against Auri's back, "But it's too soon for estimates."

Auri hung her head over his hand. "I don't want him to go offline."

Elita rubbed her back comfortingly. "Ratchet and the team are doing the best they can."

"What if it's not good enough?"

Elita bit her lip as she heard tears in Auri's tone.

"Auri," Firestar said gently, "Our Creator is a just and fair one. If this Con can be salvaged, he will be salvaged."

Auri looked up, a little bit of a conflicted hopeful smile on her face. "He'll be okay, won't he?"

"I can't promise you anything, Auri." Firestar said, shaking her head, her voice soft with regret, "I can't."

Auri nodded soberly. She knew. She knew, but she still hoped.

Elita put her arm around the femme-ling, staying by her, supporting her. She looked over at Ironhide; she knew he was having a raging battle with himself. She didn't blame him for being mad at the Con, not at all, but he had to obey orders when they were given. Some time in the brig would probably cool him off and get him to reflect on his actions.

Auri shifted a little, drawing Elita from her thoughts. "How is he?" Elita asked,

"Still content with me here." Auri said, "But he's growing a little unfocused… like… he's trying to remember or think of or figure out something."

"Mm." Elita shifted as Firestar came over, Firestar running a cloth over the berth as she wiped up the puddles of life-Energon.

"His…" Auri hesitated, looking uncertain, "His life force seems to have stopped weakening, though."

Ratchet looked up from his work to look at the femme-ling. First Aid looked over at the monitor. Its readings on the Con's spark had stabilized, but several other areas of the Con's body were giving out lower readings. They dropped a little more as he watched and then dropped again.

"Ratch…" First Aid said, but he saw that Ratchet was staring at Soundwave's face; the Con's visor was lighting up faintly.

Auri smiled sadly. "Now he can see me." She said softly, as if to herself.

The visor went dark after a moment, and then the readings on the monitor balanced back out.

"That was not a smart move." Ratchet told the Con in a flat tone.

"Maybe that was what was important to him." Firestar said, watching the berth. Hardly any more life Energon was dripping onto it. The temporary patches had been successful. Now the team would just have to go back through and properly mend everything and deal with the internal wounds.

"He was glad to see me," Auri whispered to Elita, and the older femme nodded, not entirely sure what to say.

Elita looked back at Ironhide to see how he'd taken that. His jaws and fists were clenched, and his optics were smoldering. Elita wondered if she should have him sent away so he could deal with his rage, but she knew there would be a whole new fight if he thought Auri was going to be out of his sight with the Decepticon. The near future was going to be complicated; she had no doubt about that.

Elita refocused her attention on Auri. The femme-ling seemed to be alright, aside for her sorrow over the wounded Con. "Are you doing alright?" Elita asked gently, just to make sure.

Auri nodded. "He's sorry about my guardian." She said softly.

"How do you feel?" Elita asked her, watching her.

Auri's shoulders lifted a little. "I… don't know. I'm sad. Really sad, but… it does quite hurt like sadness has before."

"Mm." Elita nodded, not knowing what else to do.

"Elita," Ratchet said quietly. She and Auri looked over. "We're gonna have to put him in stasis while we work on repairs. Things are fifty-fifty."

"He's afraid of stasis," Auri protested softly, holding the Con's hand a little tighter.

"Auri," Ratchet said gently, "He'll go offline for sure if we don't put him in stasis. Stasis is his only chance."

Auri's head lowered. Then her wings lowered. "Okay." She said softly, "But…" she hesitated.

"No buts, Auri." Ratchet said. "We will whether or not he wants us to."

"Something first, though, because… chances are so doubtful."

"Well?" Ratchet asked, not wanting to rush her but knowing they needed to hurry.

Auri's optics widened then her whole body shook, "oh-!" she gasped out, and then she put her head down against the Decepticon. "Oh..." she mourned and started to cry. Elita put her hand on the femme-ling's back. Magnus put his hand on Ironhide's shoulder, halting him.

"We need to induce stasis, now." Ratchet said quietly, and Auri nodded. Then she whimpered as the Con fell into stasis.

"Auri…?" Elita asked,

Auri sniffled but kept crying. "O, Soundwave…" she sobbed.

"Auri," Elita prodded gently, "Talk to me,"

Auri sat up, but kept her head down. "H-he was m-my g-guardian."

"Your old guardian on Cybertron?" Ratchet asked, his optics widening.

Auri nodded before putting head back down against the broken Con. "My old guardian." She cried softly.

"Don't believe everything you hear." Ironhide said quietly.

Auri sniffled. "It would be on his hand." She said, "My Cybertron name, my baby name."

Elita carefully turned the still Con's hand palm-up and found an inscription there on his palm. There was the femme-ling's old name, and she could see from how worn it was that it had been there for ages.

"See…" Auri said softly, touching the word, "And he said, 'Your name I write upon m-my hand; know that it is in my s-spark as well. W-with this I watch over you, p-protect you, fight for you. Your name may ch-change, and this word may be worn a-away by eons, but my love for you is… is unchanging and eternal, m-my sparkling_._'"

No one said anything, and Auri put her head back down against Soundwave.

Elita sat down after a moment and put a hand on Auri's to back to comfort the femme-ling as she cried against her old guardian.

* * *

How about that, eh?

Kudos to Writergurl616, Nightshadow101, Soudwave092, and DaLintyMan, for either suspecting or guessing that Soundwave was Auri's old guardian. ;)


	5. Chapter 5, Prowl

Prowlie chapter! X) Also, this chapter is the longest one yet for this story, topping 6,000 words. My Prowl-fans will be happy. ;)

"_Italicized words within quotation marks are spoken in Praxian._"

* * *

Chapter 5

**=Prowl=**

Prowl gave his cube of Energon a mildly unpleased looked as it sat on his desk just within arm's reach. It was half-an-hour past lunch time, and Auri was still with Ratchet, so he had to come to a decision. Ratchet said he should not work while taking lunch, but his logic core saw no reason why he should stop working to take lunch if Auri wasn't there. He had resolved to follow Ratchet's suggestions or directions better a while ago, though, having realized that a certain young impressionable bot had noticed that he often edged away from what the medic directed. He didn't want to give any young impressionable bots ideas about disobeying the medic.

That young impressionable bot wasn't present at the moment, though, his logic core argued. She wouldn't know. She might find out, though, logic realized next.

Prowl flicked the cube with a finger. "I overcomplicate things." He said. He paused, and then he picked up the cube and took a drink from it as he picked up a data-pad with the other hand.

Then he groaned and put the data-pad down. He hadn't _meant_ to pick it up; that had been an automatic action, a habit developed over a long, long period of time.

He put the data-pad face down so he wouldn't be drawn to the data that streamed so fascinatingly across the screen. It was somewhat addicting to watch the input displayed from the various bots in message-board fashion. Open communications were displayed from one bot to another, and replies could be made to any communication. If Prowl received a communication, the data-pad would beep, vibrate, or flash, depending on what setting he had it on.

It was almost like a Twitter or facebook for him when he watched the feed. Only it had patrol and security related things instead of memes, quotes, and lolcats. He still didn't understand lolcats, but Auri seemed to gain a certain amount of amusement from them. –once she'd figured them out, that is. She'd stared at the computer with a look of dumbfounded confusion for quite some time the first time she encountered one of the things. Now they made her laugh and giggle. Occasionally she'd try sending one to him in an email, but he would just look patient and shake his head at her when she peeked over to see if he was amused. The lolcats never did amuse him, but her repeated attempts to amuse him were amusing in themselves.

It actually seemed like she was determined to do something to amuse him every single day, he realized. Now that he thought of it, he found that she had indeed managed to get him to smile each day for the past few months. Occasionally, it had been her failures and not her attempts that had amused him, but he supposed that she'd counted them as successes, -if she had indeed been trying to amuse him.

He paused. She probably was. That seemed like something she would do. Silly little femme-ling. He carefully recalled the comical things that she'd done the past few weeks and nodded to himself. Yes, she had definitely been trying to amuse him. Why, though?

He cocked his head, wondering. Then he settled on a logical answer. She was happy when she was amused, and she liked other bots to be happy, so she tried to amuse them. Evidently, she thought he wasn't happy enough, so she tried extra to amuse him. She didn't understand the grief that still enveloped his spark and weighted him down; she didn't understand that he could never be fully happy. He hoped she would never understand that, though, for she would have to suffer in order for her to be able to comprehend his sorrow, and he didn't want that. He didn't want her to ever suffer.

He sighed and picked up a different data-pad purposely. This was the one that they used when they worked on the Praxian dialect lessons. He looked over his lesson plan as he sipped his Energon and made a few adjustments. He'd never taught a language before, so he was still developing the curriculum. He spent a while on it even after his Energon was gone, and then he decided that thirty minutes was a long enough lunch-hour for a lone bot.

He turned the data-pad over, and his optics widened in shock at what he'd missed.

Red AlertSilverbolt: I have a six Con attack on a lone Con flyer –prep team for intervention.

SilverboltRed Alert: We're on it. Ready in two. What coordinates?

Red AlertSilverbolt: We're tracing them at present…

Red AlertSilverbolt: Transmitting coordinates now.

SilverboltRed Alert: Received. At bridge. ETA 22 seconds.

Red Alert Elita, Ironhide, Hound, Jolt: Assemble ground team for present rescue mission.

Prowl scanned the acknowledgements of the order and Silverbolt's note that the attackers had been driven off and his direction to alert medical that the Con was in critical condition.

Ratchet was curt in acknowledging the comm., of course.

There were a few unimportant comms from base about traffic and a speeding liaison. Then,

JoltMagnus: We need your little back up at these coordinates. Someone has a personal grudge here, and I'm getting concerned about it.

MagnusJolt: I'll come.

JoltMagnus: Much appreciated.

Prowl skimmed over a few more unimportant comms about things around base until he found one from Ratchet.

RatchetFirestar, Bee: Get it here ASAP. Have a patient in severe critical condition.

FirestarRatchet: Been there in a couple.

BeeRatchet: I'll hurry, but it'll be a few minutes b/c of distance.

That was the last of those messages, and Bee's had been sent moments ago.

Prowl's wings twitched uneasily. Critically wounded Decepticon on Base. Security would have to be upped. Red Alert would take care of that. Which Con? Who had the personal grudge? Where was Auri if Med-Bay was on high alert? What had Elita done with Auri when she left on the retrieval?

::Prowl to Elita.:: he hailed her over a private intercom.

::Yes, Prowl?::

::I have just become aware of the situation. Is there some way I may assist?::

There was a pause before Elita answered. ::Not at present. Thank-you, though.::

::Of course. Let me know if any need arises.::

::I will.::

::Where is Auri?::

::She's here, Prowl, with me. She's –fine. I need to go.::

::Understood.:: Prowl replied then signed off. Auri was not entirely fine. He had his responsibly and duties, though. He set his teeth and returned to work. Sometimes he really hated how much self-discipline he had.

An hour passed, and Auri didn't come back.

A second hour dragged by, grating like scrap-metal being scraped across an un-oiled surface.

He felt his will starting to give and decided that he shouldn't press it too hard. He logged off his computer and locked things up and exited the office. He locked the door and then headed towards Med-Bay. He knew that Ratchet would be mildly enraged at his intrusion, but he was willing to risk the medic's ire in order to check on… things.

Once he entered the empty reception area of Med-Bay, his wings shifted a little, going into a mild alert as he sensed the tension just beyond the second set of doors.

He paused and then entered quietly, hoping to remain unnoticed for at least a little while before Ratchet tried to nail him with a wrench before throwing him out.

He looked around quickly, his optics taking in the scene as the sensory panels in his door-wings added to the information. Ironhide under Magnus's guard. Firestar cleaning something. Bee standing by Ratchet, who was repairing. Jolt and First Aid working together to patch something on –

Soundwave. It was Soundwave.

Prowl's door-wings twitched up in shock before he stopped them. They had Soundwave. The possibilities that this opened up were countless –if he lived.

Ratchet moved, Bee followed, and Prowl saw Auri then, on the other side of the Con, and Elita was sitting with her.

He felt his system slow in dread. Auri was so close to that deadly Con. He remembered one time when Lennox had found his daughter Annabelle playing in the sand a few feet away from a poisonous snake, and he now suddenly understood why Lennox had "freaked out," as the Sunny had put it. The dread was sickening. His logic core told him that it was fine because Elita was right there allowing it, but his suddenly contrary emotions didn't agree.

Elita looked up and saw him; their optics met, but her face told him nothing. Looking down again, she murmured something to Auri and gave the little femme's back a gentle rub. Then she rose, and Prowl watched as she walked around the berth and over to him.

A tense half-smile touched the femme's lips for a second. "Ratchet said you knew better than to show up." She said, making a slight attempt to create some levity.

"I came against my better judgment." Prowl replied after a tiny pause, taking care to not reveal anything through tone or inflection.

Elita followed his gaze to Auri and felt her spark grow heavy. She wasn't even sure how to break the news to him. She knew she would have to tell him, though, just as she knew she would have to tell Chromia. She had no idea how either bot would take it.

"That is Soundwave." It was an unnecessary statement, but Prowl made it anyway. Elita nodded. "Why is Auri with Soundwave?" Prowl asked,

Elita kept her optics on Auri. "When she was little, she had a Decepticon guardian."

"She told me that once." Prowl said quietly, a sense of horror starting to well up from deep within his spark. _Not Soundwave. Not Soundwave. No, no, no… _

Elita bit her lip.

"Elita…?" Prow said, the dread creeping into his tone.

Elita motioned to Soundwave. "She gets to see him again."

Prowl said and did nothing. His logic core kept him still. He was helpless in this situation so there was no point in trying to do anything. He felt dread but no surprise. It all made sense, actually. Soundwave being Auri's former guardian explained why he had tried to kidnap her twice but had been so gentle that he'd failed to kidnap her. It explained (partially) why she thought she hadn't been neglected when she had been; as a telepath, he could have constructed memories for her and fed them to her, or he could have given her so much love over their bond that she never felt neglected. It explained why she turned to Ironhide as a guardian more quickly than she did to Chromia as a guardian. It explained why she was so content with him, Prowl, being cool and quiet so much.

It added up and made sense. It was…

Suddenly, all the implications of Soundwave's arrival and his connection with Auri came crashing into Prowl's emotion core. So many bad things could happen- He could lose her-

He could not take the mental pain, literally. His system couldn't process it, and it translated into physical pain, tearing through his mind as well as his body. A shudder shook his frame, and then his system glitched out, mercifully rendering him unconscious.

OoOoOoOoO

Rebooting…

Prowl felt himself returning to consciousness, and he manually slowed the reboot. He didn't want to have to deal with any sudden pain if there was a chance that he was hurt. His head certainly felt a little sore from the glitch-out, but that was to be expected.

Elita approached him, at least, he thought it was probably Elita. It was some femme, anyway.

"Did I fall on my face?" he asked. He always had to ask that question when he came back online.

"No, you didn't." Elita said.

"Did I fall on my wings?" Prowl couldn't keep himself from asking that question.

"No, Prowl." Elita said, and Prowl heard a bit of a smile in her tone.

Confident now that he wouldn't have any pain from "falling smack-thump on the floor" (as Auri put it), Prowl allowed his system to finish booting up. He onlined his optics to find Elita standing near him, watching him. He sat up and then winced as a wave of dizziness made the room swirl around him. Elita put her hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"Careful." She said.

"My balance system reset back to Cybertron settings." Prowl explained as he readjusted said system for earth's gravity. "I should be fine now." He said, indicating that she could take her hand off his shoulder with a shrug. He really, really didn't like anybody touching at all unless it was quite necessary, and then he still rather disliked it.

Elita knew this and took her hand away despite her impulse to keep it there until she was entirely sure that he was fine.

"Was that too much for your logic core?" she asked.

Prowl shook his head. "It was not. I was suddenly struck by the sheer amount of trouble and difficulty that his identity and presence here is going to make, and that is what caused my system overload."

"That much?" Elita asked, her optics widening. She could imagine a great number a difficulties that would arise, but hardly a system-glitching number.

Prowl nodded. He got up, giving Elita a standoffish look when she lifted her hand a little.

"How is Auri?" Prowl asked, looking at the floor for some unknown reason.

Elita watched him. "She's pretty sad about how badly hurt Soundwave is, and she cried a bit when Ratchet put him in stasis. She's being clinging about him now… I think we'll better be able to tell how she is after some time has passed."

Prowl nodded. "Does Ratchet have odds for survival?"

Elita glanced over at the medic's back. "Ratchet told Auri fifty-fifty."

Prowl looked at her then. "What did he tell you?" he asked, a watchful look on his face.

"A better chance than fifty-fifty." Elita said quietly, "Roughly, fifty-five to forty-five. He didn't want to get Auri's hopes up."

"I see." Prowl said with a nod. He looked over at where Ironhide and Magnus were. "How is Ironhide taking it?" he asked, and then he felt mildly bad for asking because Elita suddenly looked very stressed. She sighed and looked down and then motioned for him to come with her.

They went into the reception area, and she made a frustrated motion with her hands once the doors were closed. "Ironhide was all for shooting Soundwave on the spot when we identified him. He fought orders and got nasty-mouthed at me to the extent that Jolt felt to need to call for backup. And I know I'll have to have him spend some time in the brig so he can think about his actions, but I know he's going to put up a huge fight about having to leave Auri that I dread doing it."

Prowl listened to all this thoughtfully and nodded when she finished.

She sighed.

"And now?" Prowl asked, "Has he given any indication of how he feels about Soundwave being-" he broke off. He found that the words refused to be spoken, a pain in his spark chasing them away.

Elita shook her head. "He clenched his fists and looked away, but he's not said anything. I can image he's feeling pretty angry, upset, and torn up about it."

"Undoubtedly." Prowl said quietly.

"I hate even thinking about how I'll have to have him dragged off to the brig when he's so upset about Auri and just wants to protect her." Elita said, looking down. "He'll either fight or beg, and either way it's not going to be fun."

"It is for the best." Prowl said, wondering if that was actually a comforting thing to say. He usually took comfort in it, but others didn't always.

Elita nodded.

Then there was a lull while both bots thought about things.

"Has Chromia been told yet?" Prowl asked as he thought of it.

"She hasn't." a look of apprehension crossed the femme's face. "I should probably tell her sooner than later, though."

Prowl nodded.

"Prowl," Elita said, her manner changing from pensive and thoughtful to commander-like and decisive.

"Yes, ma'am?" Prowl replied, his manner changing slightly to match hers,

"I need you to stay here and keep an optic on things. I am going to go see Chromia." Elita paused. "It might take a little while if she gets riled." She added, "Just so you know."

Prowl nodded. "Do you have any directions regarding Ironhide?"

Elita hesitated. "He's going to the brig either sooner or later, but I am not sure which yet…" she hesitated, looking to him for a suggestion.

"Sooner." Prowl said. "That way he can get out sooner."

Elita considered this then nodded. "Very well. I'll send him to the brig and then tell Chromia. That will leave you with just Auri to watch over instead of Auri _and_ Ironhide and Magnus."

"She should not be much of a problem." Prowl said, a hint of sadness touching his face.

"Indeed not." Elita agreed as she moved towards the door, "But just in case anything happens. Oh-"

Prowl gave her a curious look.

"None of us had lunch." Elita stated, touching her midsection lightly. She directed a sympathetic look Prowl's way. "If Ratchet can spare Firestar, I'll ask her to coax Auri to eat, but if not, would you see to it that she gets a least a little Energon in her tank?"

Prowl nodded. "Yes, ma'am." He said, keeping all hint of consternation out of his tone at the prospect of trying to cajole a bereft Auri into taking Energon.

"Thank-you, Prowl." Elita said gently, wishing she could express how much it meant to her, but she knew it would merely make him uncomfortable.

They entered the main Med-Bay room, the one where Soundwave lay surrounded by the medic team.

"Ratchet," Elita pulled the medic to the side a little, "I have to send Ironhide to the brig and then break all the delightful news to Chromia. I'm leaving Prowl here in my place, but I was wondering if you could spare Firestar for a few minutes and have her get Auri to eat some lunch."

Ratchet nodded. "That'll be fine." He said, "Good luck with the guardian couple."

"Thank-you, Ratchet." Elita said, glancing over at Ironhide. "I'll need it."

"Call me if you need any sedatives." Ratchet said drily, heading back to work.

Elita repressed a groan at that and then headed over to where Ironhide and Magnus were. She didn't look forward to this at all.

"Ironhide," she said when she was near,

He met her optics. "I owe you an apology," he stated firmly.

Elita studied his face, not answering. He'd said the words, and his tone had been almost right, but it wasn't entirely right. His expression, too, was just a little bit forced; his optics were a little too hard.

"I shouldn't have fought you back there." Ironhide said with a shake of his head, "I should have followed your orders and accepted my duty properly. It was wrong of me, and I was a bad example of an Autobot."

Elita knew it was too scripted. Ironhide would usually falter on his words when he truly apologized, or he would speak in an earnest rush and then falter. This steady apology wasn't him being sincerely regretful about his behavior; it was him trying to convince her that he didn't need to cool his heels in the brig. She really didn't know whether to be touched and amused by his attempt to make nice, or displeased by the fact that he'd tried to deceive her. As well as she knew Ironhide, she felt inclined to be touched and amused.

Ironhide's optics darkened when he saw her expression, and he lowered his head to conceal his mounting fury. He knew he'd failed to convince her, and that aggravated her. He'd have to try harder.

Elita reached over a put a hand on his upper arm. "It was a nice try, Ironhide," she said gently, "And I don't blame you at all. You cannot get out of going to the brig, though."

"Elita," Ironhide growled, "Please. Don't." he said, "Don't make me leave Auri at this time, or Chromia. Can you imagine how upset my femme is going to be when she finds out that Soundwave was Auri's negligent guardian? Don't separate us at this time."

Elita bit her lip, her spark aching a little at the thought of Chromia. Then she closed her optics and thought logically. Ironhide had tried a forced apology and it hadn't worked; couldn't this appeal to emotion be another ploy? "Don't do that to me, Ironhide." she said calmly as she opened her optics. "Law is law."

The mech before her looked frustrated and a little angry. And his fists were clenched again, she noted. "Elita," he growled.

She shook her head regretfully. "No, Ironhide." she said, "You are going to the brig, no argument. And please do not make a scene. If you make a scene, questions will arise, and you know how ugly the truth will be if it has to be told."

Ironhide ground his jaws and bit back a snarl. He was cornered now, and few things made him madder than being cornered. He had behaved in one of the worst possible ways back there, and it enraged him that Elita was flaunting that over him as blackmail. Fury filled him.

"Understood?" Elita prodded, her optics grim.

"Glitch you." He growled.

Elita's optics flew wide. Then she slapped him hard across the face, making him flinch. Her fingers burned from the impact a couple seconds later as she lowered her hand. She felt part of her optics start to sting, and she looked away.

Magnus put a hand on Ironhide's upper arm. Elita hadn't told him to take Ironhide away yet, but he'd decided that it was time. Ironhide didn't move, and Magnus gave him a nudge. "Come on." He said in a very quiet, level voice. "You've been enough of a shame for today." He added, an undertone of malice creeping into his words.

Ironhide allowed himself to be led away, and Elita remained still, not moving or watching. She didn't move until Ironhide and Magnus had left and Prowl came over to her.

"Are you alright?" Prowl asked, his wings giving a little uncertain shift.

Elita looked down. "I will be." She said quietly. "I know it wasn't personal, but it still hurt."

Prowl nodded uncertainly, not knowing what to say or do. It perplexed him when he put himself into this sort of situation… he wanted to help or do something to ease the other bot's stress, but he could never figure out which words would be helpful or suiting.

Elita looked at him and couldn't repress the small bit of a smile that came to her mouth. Poor Prowl, she thought fondly. She knew she had to press forward.

"Well, I guess Chromia is next on the list." She said, shifting her weight.

Prowl nodded. "Do not hesitate to comm. if you need backup of any sort."

"Thank-you, Prowl." She said sincerely. She gave him a nod and then headed for the doors, mentally and emotionally bracing herself for whatever Chromia might have in store for her.

Prowl watched her go and then stood there feeling a little lost. He wanted to go back to his office where it was safe and he was in control. He couldn't, though. And Ratchet was motioning him over. He went.

"What was that about?" Ratchet asked him in a low voice as they stood a ways from the other bots.

"The slap?" Prowl asked, "I can only assume Ironhide said something he should not have. I was not listening in."

Ratchet pursed his lips. "Something tells me this isn't going to be a great week."

"Did Auri have her lunch yet?" Prowl asked.

"No. We deemed it best to not rouse her until Ironhide had been dealt with. I doubt seeing Elita slap him would have done her any good at all."

"Understatement." Prowl said as he turned and headed over to where Firestar was working at one of the counters.

She turned and gave him a bit of a smile when he neared. "I just finished gettin' a cube of Energon ready for Auri." She said, picking the cube up, "So, let's see if she'll take it."

Prowl nodded, and then they went over to the femme-ling.

Auri was lying curled up on her side with her hands wrapped around Soundwave's hand and her face against his bandaged arm.

Firestar approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Auri, spark," she said gently, "I have some Energon for you."

"no." Auri said in an anxious little voice, and her wings gave a protective flick.

"But, Auri, you missed lunch, and you need Energon."

"My not leaves Soundwave." She objected in an upset babyish tone, moving closer to the Con's wounded side.

Firestar shot Ratchet a troubled look. When Auri and her system took a dive into regression, she automatically started acting like a sparkling. If the trigger caused a severe enough case of regression, Auri started talking like a sparkling in its mid-verbal stage. She didn't mean to speak or act like a sparkling at these times, but it was what happened to her system. It couldn't function any higher than the sparkling level.

Ratchet looked uneasy. They needed Auri away from Soundwave if she was going to be difficult. They had stopped the bleeding for the most part, but an unintentionally rough bump or brush from the femme-ling could damage the tentative repairs. Ratchet motioned for Prowl to step in and get her away from Soundwave.

Prowl nodded. Firestar retreated, and Prowl took her place. He moved over within arm's reach of Auri then stopped and hesitated, plotting out what course he should take to get her away from the Con… her former guardian whom she really, really didn't want to leave.

"Auri," he said, just to see how she would respond to his voice.

"no." her wings lifted protectively. "no leaves."

Prowl paused with reluctance. He didn't like having others put their hands on him, so he kept his hands off others. Auri was a touching bot, though; she hugged her friends and cuddled with her guardians, and she loved it when he would pat her shoulder lightly when he praised her. He knew he would have to touch her in order to get her to work with him.

He moved his hand and put it on her shoulder, forcing his fingers to caress her shoulder a little. "Did you have lunch?" he asked softly.

Sparkling-like Auri made some muffled little response.

"No?" Prowl asked.

"m, no." Auri echoed, curling up a little tighter.

"But, Auri…" Prowl said slowly, "That would make Soundwave sad." She didn't move, so he went on. "He would be very sad if he knew that you didn't get any food when you needed. You don't want to make him sad, do you?"

Auri shifted a tiny bit. "m, no…"

Prowl glanced up and found that everybody was staring at him with either fascinated or impressed looks on their faces. He looked back down to Auri.

"Do you think maybe you should have some Energon then?" he asked,

Auri whimpered. "no leeeeeave…" she whimpered.

"You could sit on this berth right next to Soundwave's." Prowl said, "And you would be still be very close to him."

Auri seemed to hesitate, and Prowl feared that his argument hadn't been strong enough.

"That way you would be near, _and_ you could have your Energon so Soundwave wouldn't be sad about you being hungry." he added, "You don't want him to be sad that you didn't get lunch."

Auri shifted a little. "o… okay…" she slowly sat part of the way up but didn't seem willing to move any more.

Prowl lowered and cocked his head to try to make optic-contact to her, but she wouldn't look at him. Her face, though, was the picture of broken unhappiness and emotional misery. He felt his spark sink and melt.

"C'mon." he said gently, holding his hand out to her, but she kept her head and wings down and didn't move. "_Aurilaze, come with me_." He said gently in Praxian, hoping that by some odd chance that the dialect would work on her.

Auri made an unwilling little sound, but then she leaned towards Prowl.

"_Come on_." He coaxed in Praxian and put his hand on her upper arm, nudging her a little. She sniffled then and melted against him, putting her weight on him. He had to put his hands on her sides to keep her from slipping of the berth, and at that, she put her arms around his neck and hid her face against his shoulder.

Prowl met Ratchet's optics with a very bewildered, lost look. He hadn't signed up for this sort of thing, dealing with sparkling femmes. Ratchet, though, wasn't helpful; the medic simply stood there watching with a sad bit of a smile of his face.

Prowl realized that he would just have to resign himself to his fate and carry Auri over to the nearby berth. He looked down at her. He'd carried her one time before. The first day that she had wrung his spark, the day he'd put her in the ocean on their day off because she'd thrown sand at him. He remembered how terrified of the waves she had been and how she'd cried and clung to him while he'd carried her out of the ocean and back to the warm, safe sand.

He sighed and carefully gathered her into his arms. How sweet and cuddly she was, he thought for a second, and then he reminded himself that those thoughts were not allowed. Treading slowly, he carried her over a few yards to where there was another berth. Then he tried to set her down on it, but she clung more tightly to him and whimpered. He shot Ratchet a sideways glance of dismay. Ratchet was no help, though.

Prowl sighed.

"_Auri, Little one,_" he said in Praxian, gently rubbing one of her shoulders, "_You must let go for a moment so I can set you down and sit by you_."

"_no-oh_." She replied in Praxian. "_no. yous tay._"

"_I will stay._" He told her. She made an unhappy little sound then but let him set her down on the berth. He sat down beside her, and a second later he was appalled to find her on his lap. His mouth fell open in silent protest, but she curled up against him like he was one of her guardians. Squirming a little, she shifted until she was comfortably snuggled against him, and Prowl realized with sinking spark that she was very, very cuddly, almost irresistibly cuddly.

He looked over to Firestar, who was watching, of course, and motioned for her to bring the Energon cube over. She nodded and brought it over with a soft but sad bit of a smile, and Prowl knew his spark wasn't the only one melting at the moment. His was more vulnerable, though.

Taking the Energon, he mouthed 'thank-you' and then turned his attention back to Auri as Firestar slipped away.

"_Auri, I have food for you_." He said gently, still speaking in Praxian, nudging her mouth with the cube as he put his free arm around her. Judging from the way she shifted and uttered a soft whine, he gathered that she either didn't want it or didn't understand what he was saying and doing. He set the cube down and gingerly dipped a fingertip in the liquid energy. "_Food,_" he said, barely touching Auri's lips with the finger. She didn't do anything. "_Soundwave would be sad if he knew you didn't have lunch_." Prowl coaxed, nudging her mouth a little more. Then he flinched and cringed as Auri bit down on his finger in retaliation. "_Ow-_!" he filliped her mouth with his free finger and thumb, and she let go with a disgruntled squeak. "_No biting_." He said with a grimace.

He dipped his finger back in the cube and then smudged it across the edge of the cube. Then he picked the cube up again and lifted it to Auri's lips. "_You must have just a little_." He told her. "_You need it_."

He felt her heave a reluctant little sigh, and then she put her mouth on the cube. Carefully, Prowl tipped it so she could drink the Energon, and he watched to see when she was done so he could un-tip it when she was finished. She drank without pausing to lift her head and finished a third of the cube before she stopped. Then she ducked her head against Prowl's chest.

Prowl set the cube aside. A third was good enough for now, and he knew she needed to rest, not fight. Retrieving a cloth from subspace with his free hand, he set it on the berth and wiped his sore finger on it, getting the Energon off. Then he picked the cloth up and gently wiped the corner of Auri's mouth where a little Energon had spilled. After that, he tenderly wiped the bit of dried life-Energon that was smudged on her face from when she'd had it against Soundwave's hand. Then he put the cloth away and just held her, both arms gently wrapped around the little cuddly femme.

He felt her start to relax, but then she stiffened a little, and he knew that she was fighting sleep. Her system needed her to recharge, though; it would be the best thing for her at present.

"_You should nap_," Prowl whispered, hoping this would encourage her to stop fighting recharge.

"_nnno-oh._"

Prowl sighed. If she didn't want to recharge, she could fight it for a while, and her system didn't need that extra stress. He would have to make her recharge. Shifting just a little, he moved his arm so that he could touch Auri's face. Gently, he stroked the side of her face, and her optics blinked automatically as his fingers neared them. Slowly, gently, his fingers caressed her face again and again. Ironhide had used this trick on him when he'd been a youngling, and it had successful without fail, but Auri fought it now.

Prowl had one last thing to try. His wings lowered sadly.

He lowered his head.

"_Sleep, O sparkling, gently sleep,_" he sang softly, sending chills up the other bots' backs. His singing voice was beautiful, and the notes were mesmerizing.

"_Slumber, slumber, dream and dream,  
"Dream a dream of Praxus land.  
"Helix garden crystals gleam,  
"Watch you through the night,  
"Light your face and guard your spark  
"Sleep, O sparkling, sleep,  
"Slumber, slumber, dream and dream,  
"Dream a dream of Praxus…" _

Prowl faltered then steadied himself. "_Fairest Praxus land."_ There were more lines, but Auri was in a deep recharge now, so he ended with that line.

Med-Bay was very still, only the machine whirred a little as it monitored Soundwave; the other bots had paused their work to listen to Prowl sing, almost entranced by his voice and the haunting melody. Bee vaguely remembered Prowl singing the lullaby to him when he was little, but none of the others had ever heard Prowl sing.

Slowly, the medical team started to move and go back to work, but it was with an almost reverent manner as they realized what Prowl had done, the sacrifice he had made. They all knew that memories of childhood and Praxus and the beautiful Helix crystal gardens, all destroyed by the Decepticons, caused him great pain; he never spoke of them, yet he had sung a childhood lullaby of Praxus and the gardens so that Auri could get the sleep she needed.

He shifted a little so that he could hold Auri more comfortably, and he laced his fingers together so his hold was secure. Then he set his system to enter a low state of recharge so he could get a tiny bit of rest while she recharged. In the low state of recharge, his system could recharge some, but he could stay sitting up, and he would still be half aware of what was going on around him. He lowered his head and closed his optics, and then low-state recharge set in.

* * *

To guest reviewer Purrpix: No, Auri never knew it was Soundwave. She only now just found out. ...I actually think I remember you being one of the first readers of _You Have Found a Home_ guessing about Soundwave being her old Guardian.


	6. Chapter 6, Coping

Hellos! I'm in finals week now, and I'm unemployed. Unemployment is very, very, very bad for me because I have no income at all and almost no savings... so I'm not sure how the future is going to go... I don't know how writing or posting will go in the upcoming months, but I promise I won't abandon this story.

I do apologize for the messiness of the timeline for this chapter… It's what had to be done, though.

Hey, this chapter is longer than the last one... o.o

* * *

Chapter 6

**Coping**

(In Med-Bay before Ironhide is taken to the brig)

"You are going to the brig, no argument. And please do not make a scene. If you make a scene, questions will arise, and you know how ugly the truth will be if it has to be told." The commander's words were cool and calculating. She knew how to bend another bot, lofty elite that she was. She'd been trained in it.

Ironhide found himself dealing with a huge amount of rage at her high-handed blackmail. She'd cornered him in a way only a superior could, and he hated being cornered, especially like that. Hated it. He felt his fury doubling. Glitch her for putting him over a barrel like that.

"Understood?" the higher-up taunted,

"Glitch you." He snarled.

The slap came so fast that it startled him. Then Ironhide stared at Elita. Never had he seen her hit a mech before. His cheek burned where her hand had made contact, but it was nothing compared to the shame that suddenly burned in his spark when he saw tears well up in her optics. '_Glitch _you_, Ironhide._' he thought at himself. '_Look what you've done._'

He bit his lip as she looked away. Remorse paralyzed him and locked up his throat, choking out the apology that came crying from his spark.

He felt Magnus's hand on his arm, but he couldn't move.

"Come on." Magnus said, and Ironhide knew from the quiet, level tone that Magnus was deeply disappointed with him. Magnus nudged him. "You've been enough of a shame for today." He added, an undertone of malice tingeing his tone.

Ironhide allowed himself to be led away, but he glanced back when Magnus paused at the door. He saw Elita still standing there, not moving, and he felt like dying. He never should have allowed himself to get _that_ mad. He knew that he had anger issues to some degree in some areas, but they'd never gone so far that he'd let them hurt a femme.

It was worse because she was Elita. He'd known her longer than any of the femmes on base. They were good friends. And he'd said _that_ to her. If Prime found out and kicked his tail, it still wouldn't come close to paying him back for what he'd done. When he'd cursed at her, he'd only been viewing her as some high-handed officer, he realized. But in actuality, he'd more than just cursed at an officer; he'd cursed at a long-time friend and hurt her.

He tripped on the curb and realized that they were to the street. Magnus gave him a cold look and then transformed in a very controlled, precise manner. Ironhide vaguely realized then that Magnus was using a great deal of self-control to keep from saying anything to him. He almost wished Magnus would lose it, not because he wanted another bot to lash out, but because he knew he deserved to be chewed up into scrap metal. He knew Magnus would strive not to do it, though. Magnus wasn't going to tread on Elita's territory in a sensitive situation like this. His respected her immensely, and he would help her, but he would never steal her authority by calling down someone she was going to call down.

Magnus was waiting, engine idling.

Ironhide transformed listlessly. His spark felt broken because of what he'd done. He had hurt Elita. He'd seen it in her optics before Magnus had pulled him away.

He hadn't meant to utter the words, _glitch you_, but they'd slipped out. They had been in his raging spark, and he'd let them get away in his fury. Now… now he wished he'd never even thought of them.

Never before had he ever treated her, or any femme, as he had today, and it made him sick, sick to the spark.

Despicable. That was the word for his behavior. Despicable. Loathsome. Vile. Decepticon.

The drive to the brig was all too long. Ironhide knew that no one knew what he'd said, but he still felt like he was on parade. He wanted to hide, go away. The look in Elita's optics haunted him. Her disappointment, her pain. He'd caused it.

She'd slapped him, and he'd more than deserved it.

He and Magnus entered the brig, and Magnus put him in one of the cells without a word, locked it, and left.

Ironhide clenched his fists with regret. He could never take back his actions, the insubordination he'd displayed on the beach, and he could never take back his words, not matter how much he wished he could. He could never undo the hurt he'd done Elita. His optics settled on the floor. To make things even worse, Soundwave was Auri's old guardian.

His spark ached in agony, speared him with pain like it was being torn from his chest then. His precious little Auri… Soundwave… _Soundwave_. He now knew who was to blame for Auri's psychological problems. Soundwave was the reason Auri fought tears whenever he or Chromia had to leave Base, and Soundwave was the one who caused her deep-seated fear of abandonment. He was the one who'd let her think tantrums were acceptable, and he was the reason she fell into regression so easily. He was the reason why she woke up crying at night sometimes because she was afraid that Ironhide and Chromia might leave and never come back, and he was the one who triggered so may 'what if' questions from the little femme; he was the one she always longed for.

A cold fear crept into Ironhide's spark then as 'what if' question of his own arose. What if Auri wanted to return to Soundwave, her first guardian?

"No…" Ironhide couldn't stand that thought. "NO!" he roared, as the fear started to pervade his processor. He turned, casting his optics to the corner where a punching bag hung. This was the cell that Auri called "the angry-bot cell," and it was the one they always put him in on the rare occasions that he had to be brigged. It had a punching bag in it for a reason.

He ran over and slammed his left fist into the bag. _Thud_. Then he slammed his right fist into it. _Thud_. Left again. Right again. Again and again he slammed his fists into the bag, letting his fear and rage flow through them.

_'Take that, and that, and that_,' he thought. '_And don't __ever__ hurt Elita again._' He transferred his rage at himself to the punching bag. He beat the insubordination out of it. He beat the fury out, and the rage. He pounded the stubborn self-will into a humble, broken thing.

After a while, he stopped and stood there panting a little with nothing left but sorrow and fear and stinging knuckles. Turning away, he went and sat down on the berth in the corner. He drew his knees up and hid his face in his arms, bowing his head. He resolved to learn from this day and never repeat it. It had been a painful lesson, but sometimes that how lessons were for him. He had to learn.

He thought of Chromia next and a groan of despair escaped his lips. She would need him when she found out, and he wouldn't be there. All because he'd let his stupid temper get away from him.

'_Blast your temper, Ironhide_.' he said to himself bitterly. It had hurt him in times past, but now it was going to hurt Chromia. He could take personal hurt, but letting Chromia get hurt was unacceptable.

He couldn't do anything about it now. Helpless. No intercom access in the brig except to the commanding officer who imprisoned him, Elita.

Could he intercom her? He felt sick. He couldn't even begin to figure out what he would say to her; his crime against her had been so ruthless and brutal. A tear slipped into one of his optics and trickled down his cheek.

He wouldn't be there for Auri, either, his vulnerable, little Auri who could take things so hard.

He heard the entrance door open and close. Lifting his head, he brushed the dampness from his cheek, and then as his audios picked up Elita's footfalls.

_NO!_

He couldn't face her. Not yet.

He ducked his head hard and wrapped his arms around it, desperately wishing he could hide himself as the footfalls sounded closer and closer.

They stopped at his cell.

"You had no lunch." Elita's voice without any hint of intonation, and Ironhide heard her set an Energon cube inside the cell bars. "My apologies for neglecting that." she added quietly.

The words slowly began to burn and sting as they sank into Ironhide's spark and as he realized what strength of character it took for her to come back into _his_ presence and deal with an oversight that she'd made. He was too choked up to answer, though, too sick. He heard her leaving.

"Elita,"

The footfalls paused.

A shudder shook Ironhide's frame as he fought for some words, any words, but none came.

"Don't worry about Chromia." Elita's voice said softly, "I'll look after her. I have to go back to Med-Bay now."

Ironhide listened to her leave then let the tears trickle from his optics.

OoOoOoOoO

(Before Elita's visit to Ironhide).

Elita found Chromia in one of the training rooms, doing a few stretches. She stayed back and watched, not wanting to engage Chromia yet. She had momentarily considered calling Chromia to the brig so Ironhide would be near to comfort her, but she'd quickly decided against it. She doubted that Ironhide, in his volatile mood, would be much help. She wasn't ready to face him so soon, either.

"Hey, femme." Chromia greeted, straightening as she finished a set.

"Hi…" Elita said, deciding that now was as good as time as any. She'd thought of several dozen ways to break the news but hadn't been able to decide which one she should use.

Chromia raised on optic-ridge. "So?" she asked, "I know something's up but not what. You come to fill me in?"

Elita frowned slightly. "What… do you know?" she asked as Chromia crossed her legs and bent to touch the tips of her pedes.

Chromia came up and put one foot behind the other. "First, that Ironhide's pretty mad about something." She put her arms out to her side and did a lunge, holding it, "Second, that Auri's upset about something." She stepped back and twisted to the side, "And third, well, just that security has been upped several notches but neither me nor Ironhide are included in the extra patrols. And you know we always are."

Elita nodded. That was true. Chromia and Ironhide were always included when security was upped.

"So," Chromia said, standing tip-toe, "Spill it, femme-bot." she ordered lightly.

Elita smiled a small, sad half-smile at Chromia's laidback order and wished there was an easy way to break the news.

Chromia paused and grew serious, realizing that something wasn't right with how Elita was responding to her. She quit with her stretches. "Elita?" she asked gently, reaching over to touch her friend's arm, "What's going on?"

Elita looked down. "Soundwave was critically injured by a group of other Cons, so we brought him in." she said softly. "He's got about a fifty-five percent chance of living."

"That explains security and why Ironhide's mad." Chromia said, wondering why that would upset Elita so much.

Elita nodded. Then she felt tears welling up in her optics.

"Hey… 'Lita?" Chromia asked, starting to feel some concern. "Elita, what's wrong?"

Elita looked down and brushed the tears away. "Chromia, Soundwave… is Auri's old guardian."

Chromia blinked. "No way." She said in disbelief. Not Soundwave. Soundwave was a torturer, not a care-giver. "That's not possible, Elita." She said with a half-snort, shaking her head.

Elita sighed unhappily, but Chromia's denial was better than Ironhide's rage.

"Think about it, 'Mia." She said, "You know her old guardian was a Decepticon mech."

"Yeah. But…"

"And he was very gentle with her when he tried to kidnap her,"

"That…"

"And he has her baby name inscribed on his palm, well-worn by ages."

Chromia stared for a second. Then,

"GLITCHING _NO_!" Chromia yelled, stepping forwards. Elita flinched and braced herself, lifting her hands with wrists crossed, ready to fend off any attack that might come.

Chromia stepped back and calmed herself with a deep intake of air. "Really, Elita?" she asked in quiet tone of doubt.

"Really." Elita said softly, retreating a little to sit down on a bench. "I'm so sorry," she added as the tears came back to her optics. She lowered her head to press her fingers to her optics, and she found Chromia sitting down beside her and drawing her into an embrace.

"Hey, it's not your fault." Chromia coaxed as she hugged Elita, "It could have happened to anybody."

At that, a rueful laugh escaped Elita's lips, but then she started to cry.

"Oh, Elita." Chromia said, snuggling her a little like she would Auri, "What you crying about?"

"It was so stressful." Elita confessed shakily, hiding her face against Chromia's shoulder. The femme commander was usually unshakable, but on the few occasions when she broke, Chromia would look after her if Prime wasn't available.

"Yeah…?" Chromia prompted gently.

Elita sniffled and dried her tears. "Ironhide wanted to just shoot Soundwave where he lay," she said, "And he fought me until Magnus showed up."

"Aw," Chromia murmured comfortingly, putting her own feelings aside and focusing on tending to Elita's needs. She'd gotten better at this since she'd become Auri's guardian. She could rage about her aft of a mech later if need be.

"And then he tried a forced apology when I approached him to send him to the brig, and when that didn't work, he tried to make me feel guilty about separating him from you and Auri."

"That was mean of him," Chromia empathized. Yeah, she was gonna rage at him.

Elita nodded.

"Anything else?" Chromia asked after a little silence.

Elita bit her lip and looked down. "He… he cursed at me when I warned him not to fight me. He said, 'glitch you,' and then- then I slapped him." She paused, "Hard." She felt tears welling up in her optics again, but she blanked them back. "Magnus led him away then, to the brig."

Chromia waited until she was sure that Elita was done talking, and then she spoke. "You were right to hit him." she said quietly. Ironhide was going to suffer.

Elita didn't move or say anything. She just felt sore, worn out. Ironhide had never, _ever_ treated her like that before.

"Sorry I yelled back there," Chromia apologized coaxingly after a moment.

A rueful smile touched Elita's face, and she put her head up. "It's alright. I… it wasn't as bad as what I had prepared myself for."

"Well…" Chromia said softly as she leaned back against the wall, "I'm not happy about Soundwave. But, even ugly answers are answers, you know? and answers are better than nothing. Perhaps this will give Auri some closure that she needs." She frowned. "How is Auri taking it?"

Elita sighed and then told her the whole story of what had happened. Chromia listened without a word, but Elita saw sadness in her optics and on her face.

"Poor sparkling…" Chromia said softly.

Elita nodded. Then she looked down. "I left Prowl in charge of her for the meanwhile."

"Oh- how's Prowl taking it?" Chromia asked quickly, looking over at Elita.

"Like he takes everything unpleasant." Elita said with a slight shake of her head. "Only this time I can tell he's shaken. And…" she told Chromia about him glitching out. "He said he was suddenly struck by the sheer amount of trouble and difficulty that Soundwave's identity and presence here is going to make and that that was what had caused the overload, but I wonder if there's something more than that."

Chromia tilted her head. "Like…?"

"Auri." Elita said softly. "Roughly half his questions were about Auri."

Chromia sighed as she nodded. "Poor Prowl." She knew that he tried to not care for Auri; she knew he was too haunted by his past to ever let himself love. But, she knew that he was fighting a losing battle with his spark. He couldn't stop its care for Auri forever.

"I must go now." Elita said reluctantly, rising.

"Okay." Chromia got up as well. "I'm gonna work out a little more, and then I'll come straight over to Med-Bay."

"Alright." Elita said. She touched Chromia's shoulder and then went on her way. Then her spark sank as she realized that Ironhide had not had any lunch. He would need some, and she would have to take it to him and apologize for that oversight. As commanding officer, it was her responsibility. She bit her lip. She badly wanted to delegate the task, but she knew she shouldn't. She wouldn't. She would face him.

OoOoOoOoO

After Elita left, Chromia stretched some more and then begin practicing battle moves, taking each one slowly and holding each step of the move. She pushed away thoughts about high-grade, and focused on her moves, focusing carefully on every action. It was about control and precision, refinement. She finished and then began to think about the new situation as she did her cool-off stretches.

It was just more of her life, and she'd have to take it, like it or not. She understood Ironhide's rage about it, but her processor just didn't see any reason to get mad like that.

"I'm still in denial..." Chromia realized quietly. Once reality finally hit, she wouldn't be so calm. Once she truly got it through her processor that Soundwave was Auri's old guardian and that he was there on Base, then she'd have very real, probably very strong, feelings about it.

She finished stretching and then transformed and drove to Med-Bay, resisting the urge to stop at the pub since she'd told Elita that she'd go to Med-Bay right after her workout. Once she was in bipedal mode again and walking into the reception area, that was when reality started to hit, and she felt a little unwell. A sinking feeling entered her spark, and she felt it ache. She should have stopped at the pub.

She stopped at the second set of doors with a sudden feeling of fear and looked through the window into the main Med-Bay room. She could see a large mech lying on a berth, mostly without armor and covered with patches and bruises, his body raw.

'_That's what you get for treating Auri the way you did_.' She thought, '_Payback_.' Her spark felt cold and uneasy, though. She suddenly realized that she couldn't go in there. She couldn't.

She looked a little more and found Prowl sitting on a berth talking to Elita, and Auri was curled up on his lap, head down, optics probably closed. She was probably in recharge. She'd probably gone into some severe regression, Chromia realized, else she would have never ended up on Prowl's lap. The femme-ling knew she wasn't supposed to sit on mechs unless they were of her guardian set or the twins. And Prowl… Prowl was the last of the mechs on base who'd have _anybody_ on his lap. She must have completely lost it.

Chromia bit her lips and willed herself to not cry. She felt so out of control of the situation. She couldn't do anything, and she couldn't bring herself to enter the room where the wounded ex-guardian lay.

::Elita,:: she intercommed her commander on a private channel.

::Yes?:: Elita replied.

::I'm in the reception area, but… I… I just can't… I can't.::

Elita looked over, and their optics met through the glass. Chromia watched as Elita said something to Prowl and then came over. Chromia stepped away from the door, and Elita came into the reception area.

"I can't." Chromia said, looking down.

"It's alright." Elita told her gently. "I understand. I don't think I could if I was in your place. It's okay."

Chromia looked like it wasn't okay.

"Need a hug?" Elita asked, and Chromia looked miserable. Elita hugged her.

"Why?" Chromia asked, sounding upset. "Why…?"

Elita rubbed the blue femme's neck comfortingly. "Auri needs answers, remember?" she said softly.

"Oh, that's right," Chromia groaned. "That's what I said." She moaned and then moved away from Elita and sat down on a waiting chair, resting her forehead on her hands.

"Did you see Auri with Prowl?" Elita asked.

Chromia nodded heavily. "Any other day, I'd be chuckling." She gave a rueful half-laugh at that. "Was Prowl horrified?"

"'A picture of utter dismay' is how Firestar put it. Auri was a complete sparkling, and he had no choice but to put up with it."

"He's so patient and good with her." Chromia sighed, feeling inadequate as tears filled her optics.

Elita went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Chromia." she reassured the femme-guardian gently.

Chromia sighed. Then she got up and gave Elita a sorry look and moved towards the door to leave.

"Comm. me if you need me." Elita told her.

"'Kay." Chromia said, and then she slipped out the door. Elita sighed then went back into Med-Bay to sit by Prowl while she worked on writing her reports.

OoOoOoOoO

Rebooting…

Auri felt warm and safe, snuggled up to her protector, the soft sound of his spark pulsing by her head, his arms around her, gently encircling her. It would be very nice to just stay like this and not move. Her tank was signaling her that it was getting low, however, so she knew that she needed to wake up and eat. Cuddling was so nice, though… maybe she could just cuddle for a little while more before she moved.

But… Who was she cuddling with? She suddenly felt a little confused. This wasn't Ironhide, and it certainly wasn't Chromia. It was someone she knew well, but who?

She cracked open one optic and saw monotones, Prowl…

Prowl-?

Prowl-!

Auri jumped with yelp and scrambled off Prowl's lap as fast as she could and onto the berth next to him. She sat and gave him an indignant look of shock. Of all the nerve! Him sitting her on his lap! Talk about inappropriate! That time months ago when she'd quickly kissed his cheek after a bet with Chromia didn't even begin to compare with this!

She flicked her wings up in outrage at him and looked pointedly away. She couldn't believe he would do such an inappropriate thing. Right in Med-Bay, too-!

She paused. She knew he wouldn't do anything even halfway inappropriate. Her wings lowered. What _was_ going on?

She slowly turned and looked back at him questioningly, finding a look of slightly bemused concern on his face.

"Prowl…?" she asked, "Why were you… holding me?"

Prowl's wings lifted ever so slightly. "I was holding you because you scrambled onto my lap like a frantic sparkling." He explained patiently.

"Oh-!" Auri felt her face grow warm with embarrassment. She looked around him at Elita, who was watching her. "Did I do that?" she asked.

Elita nodded. "I wasn't here, but Ratchet was watching."

Auri looked at the floor as she tried to access her memory files. There was some sort of block on them, though. "Oh. What happened to me?"

"You entered regression." Prowl said, "I had to carry you over here, and you bit my finger when I tried to get you to eat your late lunch."

Auri's face heated up more at that.

"Prowl," Elita reproached him, feeling like he was being unhelpful. "Auri," she said gently, "You entered regression because you got upset about your old guardian. He's badly wounded, and he's here in Med-Bay."

"Oh…" Auri looked down. Then she gave a little gasp as the block went away and everything finally came back to her. "Soundwave-!" her optics widened, "Ooooohno!" her wings flicked up. "MyoldgaurdiansSoundwave-!" she blurted, looked dismayed and shocked.

Prowl nodded reluctantly.

Auri uttered a little squeak and didn't move.

"Are you alright?" Elita asked her gently.

"Mm-hmm." Auri said, looking a little troubled, "Where is he now?"

"Ratchet moved him to the large side room." Elita answered as Auri slipped off the berth. She watched the young femme hurry to the other room, and then she looked over at Prowl. For once, his expression wasn't hidden, and she saw troubled concern on his face, mixed with tenderness and regret. Then it all disappeared.

"I need to return to my office." Prowl said, rising, "-If you no longer have need of my assistance."

"No." Elita said, "Thank-you for your help this afternoon."

He nodded once and then he left, planning to bury himself under as much work as possible.

The rest of the afternoon went by quietly. Ironhide lay in his cell and grieved about his actions. Chromia moped around her quarters and tried several times to read a story or watch a movie, but nothing helped. Auri sat quietly by Soundwave's side and watched Ratchet and Jolt work steadily on his repairs. Elita stayed in the same room, keeping an optic on Auri.

Prowl stayed in his office and worked without thinking or resting. He worked overtime, hours past when he was supposed to go back to his quarters, and then he left only because his tank was begging for some Energon. He went to his quarters in the semi-darkness of the city night and downed a cube, and then exhaustion hit him, just as he'd hoped it would, and he fell into recharge a few seconds before he dropped onto his berth.

In Med-Bay, Elita approached Auri.

"Auri," she said gently, and the femme-ling looked up at her. "It's starting to get late."

Auri looked down. "I don't want to leave him, Elita." She said softly, "Do I have to?" she sounded like she might cry if Elita said 'yes.'

Elita looked over at Ratchet. He shook his head. Auri could stay.

"No, you don't have to." Elita told her. "You do need to lie down, though, and try to recharge."

"Okay." Auri said compliantly; anything was fine as long as she was able to stay with her poor Soundwave. She curled up on the small berth that Jolt wheeled in for her and shut her optics obediently. The sensor arrays in her wings stayed on, though, tracking the moments of the bots in the room. Elita left after talking quietly with Ratchet, and Auri supposed that she'd probably gone home. She started to get drowsy after a while, and then she slipped into recharge.

OoOoOoOoO

Chromia lay awake on her berth. Ironhide was spending the night in the brig, and Auri was spending the night in Med-Bay. That left Chromia all alone in their quarters.

She stared at the ceiling and couldn't get the image of the brutalized mech out of her head. She needed drugs. No, she needed a drink; she didn't do drugs anymore. She rolled over onto her side and thoughts of Auri's neglect came flooding over her. She really needed dru… a drink. She turned again so she was facedown and hid her face in her pillow. She didn't want anything to happen to her little Auri. She'd been needing dr- drink all afternoon. Ever since Elita had come and broken the news to her, she'd been needing something that was smooth in her mouth, burned going down, and melted away her mental pain. She'd fought the feeling all afternoon, but now that she was trying to sleep, it came with full force. She felt like she'd be sick if she didn't have something.

She needed the dulling of her processor that high-grade gave her, not just one cube, but multiple cubes, one after another so that she couldn't think about anything. Several cubes of ultra-grade would be perfect; after the first few, her body would become numb, and after the second few, her head would become numb; she'd be completely wasted, not a care in the world.

She really needed it. She knew she shouldn't do it. She needed to, though; her body was screaming for it, burning. She'd die without it, or so it felt.

She stumbled into the main room, the living room were Auri usually slept on the couch and where they ate their meals around a table. They had Energon stores in the cupboard in that room, high-grade included because Ironhide liked a little high-grade now and then. He never had too much, never overindulged. He'd never been on drugs, though, and she had. Addictions… she'd traded the drug addiction for high-grade once Elita had gotten her off the street.

She remembered Elita running off the thug who'd chained her to a light pole and beaten her nearly senseless. And she remembered the agonizing weeks she'd spent in Med-Bay, first recovering from the beating and then going through withdrawal, nearly dying from it.

She needed to forget that, too. It was agonizing just remembering the excruciating pain that had torn through her body those weeks.

She opened the cupboard with unsteady fingers and cursed when she found that the high-grade was under lock. She put her head against the wall and ground her teeth. She'd been so, so, so very good on earth. She'd only gotten wasted a couple times since her arrival. Ironhide had locked the high-grade up, though, after the last time. It was because they had Auri now.

She crumpled up on the floor, feeling tears in her optics. Oh, Auri! She'd gotten drunk that last time because she'd been horribly upset about an incident that had occurred between her and Auri. Poor little Auri had been in a nasty attitude because of some rough things that were going on at the time, and Chromia had ended up yelling at her, and cursing, too, instead of being patient. She felt like such a horrible guardian, a horrible femme. The high-grade had eased the pain then. High-grade would ease the pain now. She needed to get some.

She thumped her head on the wall lightly, trying to think through the cravings. They had high-grade at the pub, but they knew not to serve her any if she was alone. Ironhide had told them, curse him.

Get a grip, she told herself. She knew she shouldn't drink.

The lounge. There was high-grade stored at the lounge. Not locked up.

'No,' her conscience told her, 'don't, you shouldn't…' It was a tiny voice, hardly audible over the screams of her cravings, but she heard it.

'shut-up…' she thought, but she couldn't decide if she was talking to her conscience or the cravings. The cravings were about to make her sick, though. She had to give into them. She… needed Ironhide. He was an addiction, too. He could intoxicate her. Oh, but he was in the brig. Curses.

Chromia writhed as the pain grew worse, and then she dragged herself up using the table as a support. She had to have _something_. She-

Her unfocused optics vaguely made out the pictures that Auri had put on the wall in her corner. Distraction. She could use them as a distraction for a brief period of time. She fell over one of the stools that was by the table; it wobbled, but then steadied, and she stayed there, lying over it, gasping a little, trying to focus on Auri's pictures with her head at an odd angle. A picture of Auri with the twins… a picture of just the twins… a picture of each twin… a snapshot of Bumblebee giving the thumbs-up sign… Ironhide and Chromia standing together, Chromia leaning on Ironhide with a grin… Ultra Magnus and some human… Flareup and Auri… Flareup by herself… Elita and Chromia…

Elita… _Comm. me if you need me_.

Staring at Auri's pictures was only going to work for twenty more seconds, Chromia knew. Already the minor distraction was weakening, and the cravings were coming back in full force.

::Elita:: she intercommed,

::Yes, Chromia?:: Elita answered after a couple seconds.

::I need…:: she couldn't figure out what to say. She needed dose or two of trilph. Trilph would end all her problems for a day until it wore off. Trilph withdrawal had nearly killed her, though, so, NO. ::Help.::

::I'll come over.:: Elita told her, ::I'll be there in a few minutes.::

::Okay…:: Chromia replied miserably. She felt like such an awful failure.

::Just wait for me.::

::Okay.:: Chromia said, but she knew she couldn't wait. She needed something badly, almost anything. She pushed herself up off of the stool. 'No…!' her conscience begged. She bit her lip then made herself sit down. She put her head on the table and wrapped her arms around it.

"I am strong." She said through her teeth. "I am strong." She said again as tears filled her optics, "It takes-s… s-strength to ask for h-help. I asked f-for help. It takes-s-s… ngh-! It… takes-s… strength t-to overcome. I am… I _am_ o-overcoming. I am strong. I can… I c-… I _CAN'T!_ I can't!" She sobbed.

She was crying on the floor when Elita knocked on the door, and she didn't move to rise when Elita knocked a second time.

The door opened then -Elita had an emergency access code-, and Elita came in.

"Oh, Chromia," she said softly. The door closed, and Elita hurried over to her friend. "Hi," she said gently, kneeling. She knew what was going on. Aside from Ironhide, she was the only bot on Base who knew certain details about Chromia's past. She knew about the drugs and the high-grade problem. She took one of Chromia's hands and held it gently. With her other hand, she rubbed Chromia's shoulder. "Would you like to sit on the couch?" she asked softly, knowing that Chromia usually coped better if she wasn't lying down.

"No…" Chromia sobbed, but Elita gently pulled her up.

"C'mon," Elita coaxed, supporting her and leading her over to the couch.

Chromia crumpled on the couch and hid her face, and Elita sat down beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly after several minutes.

Chromia shook her head. "I just need you to k-keep me away f-from it." She said brokenly.

Elita nodded. "Okay. I will." She said, holding her hand out to Chromia. Chromia took it and held it with both of hers as she rested her head on the back of the couch.

Elita gently rubbed the back of Chromia's hand and thought about how negatively Soundwave's arrival had impacted this little family. Ironhide had gotten so mad and behaved with such insubordination that he'd gotten himself thrown in the brig. Auri had fallen into her worst case of regression in her two years on earth, and once she'd come of it, she had hardly said anything, and that not unless spoken to. And Chromia, indomitable as she was, was crumbled up listlessly as she suffered.

"You wanna do something?" Chromia asked dully after a while.

"Like what?" Elita asked, watching her friend's tear-stained face.

Chromia shrugged. "I don't know." She muttered, "…Polish our fingers and pedes?"

"We could do that," Elita said. She, as an upper-class femme, had always enjoyed beauty-related things, but she knew that Chromia usually got bored with beauty-product application. If Chromia was going to suggest it, though, she wouldn't say no.

Chromia got up slowly and dragged her feet to her and Ironhide's room, coming back with a small box that held her polishing kit. She gave Elita a pathetic dry half-smirk as Elita took her notably large polish-kit from subspace.

"So, we gonna gab about mechs?" Chromia asked sullenly as she sat down on the couch heavily. She usually liked to talk about mechs.

"We could," Elita said, gaining a little hope that she could cheer Chromia up. She summoned up a sly, flirty smile, "I slapped a pretty hot one today. Not my type, but I think you'd like him." She tossed her head and gave Chromia a bit of a grin, belying the pain that stabbed her spark.

Chromia snorted. "You'll have to set us up."

"Okay, but _after_ I shine your pedes." Elita said, taking Chromia's polish-kit and motioning for her feet.

Chromia turned and sat facing Elita. "Like he's gonna be looking at my pedes." She said drily, "My assets aren't exactly down there."

Elita managed to grin as she took Chromia's right foot. She began to rub it with a cleaning cloth. "Oh, you never know; he might have a penchant for pedes."

"Hah!" Chromia laughed. "I've never met a mech who was more interested in my pedes than he was in this pair of curves up here or behind. Have you?"

"Well, no." Elita said, smiling as she saw that Chromia was starting to perk up a little.

"I thought as much." Chromia said with a recovering matter-of-fact tone and gave Elita a smile.

She bantered with Elita about mechs and armor style then as they polished. Once Elita finished polishing Chromia's pedes, Chromia polished Elita's pedes, and then she pulled out a little temporary gold detailing paint.

"We're doing detailing?" Elita asked, looking rather astonished.

"Why not." Chromia said, repositioning Elita's pede. "Gold's fine with you, right?"

Elita nodded, a little too surprised to speak. Chromia never wanted to deal with detailing.

"Thought so." Chromia said with a grin, and she remained fairly upbeat for the rest of the evening, much to Elita's relief, and she let Elita put silver temporary detailing paint on her pedes.

"Pretty," she said, as she inspected Elita's work on her left pede, but she started to nod off while Elita painted her other pede. Elita found herself growing tired as well, and put away the polishes and paint once she finished Chromia's pedes. She halfway considered going home to Optimus, but… she couldn't quite get her body to move.

She sent Optimus a brief sleepy intercom and then she curled up on what part of the couch Chromia wasn't taking over and dropped into a much-needed recharge.


	7. Chapter 7, A New Day

Hello everybody! Apologies for keeping you all hanging for so long! I got sick after my final exams. I'm still sick, actually. I have a bad cough and no energy. Not fun. And sometimes I cough for so long and hard that I can't breathe for a couple moments, and _that_ is no fun. My sister came and visited for a week, and that was really nice, and we hung out (watching movies because I was too tired to do anything else, which was fine because she loves movies). I think I only wrote a couple lines while she was here. And I still have no job. Anyways, the next chapter is finally here. I'm not quite satisfied with it, but it will just have to do.

* * *

Chapter 7

**A New Day**

Elita woke up halfway and started to shift positions, but her sensors warned her that she wasn't in her usually sleeping place. She paused as memories of last night came flooding back to her, and then she onlined her optics and peered over at Chromia. The other femme was still in recharge, curled up protectively.

Elita got up carefully, taking care not to bump or touch Chromia's pedes or legs, knowing she'd get a hard kick if she did; Chromia had wicked reflexes. Elita stood and stretched, trying to work some of the stiffness out of her body. She wasn't used to sleeping scrunched up on a couch.

She bent and touched her nicely polished pedes then straightened and reached up towards the ceiling, trying not to focus on how much she dreaded this day. She told herself to be reasonable, for it could turn out to be a good day, but she really doubted that it would.

She sighed and began making a mental to-do list as she twisted. Eat breakfast. Release Ironhide (hopefully). Check on Auri (Ironhide would be busy with Chromia). Check on Prowl (Prowl probably wasn't a very happy bot at present). Talk to Magnus (should she talk to him first?)

Chromia made a growly sound, and Elita looked over to find the blue femme rolling over with a scowl.

"Good morning," Elita said gently, taking care not to sound chipper.

Chromia drew a finger curtly across her mouth, signifying that she wasn't going to respond to that. Elita nodded understandingly. They'd agreed ages ago that if either one of them was out-of-sorts to the degree that she was inclined to be ugly-mouthed, that she would just make that sign and keep quiet. Elita had done it three or four times, but Chromia had done it countless times.

"Do you need anything before I leave?" Elita asked.

"Ironhide," Chromia said, using an objecting tone as if Elita had offered her some other mech.

"I can't get him while I'm still here," Elita said gently, "I'll get him for you right after my breakfast."

"'Kay." Chromia said grumpily, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch over herself and turning her back on Elita.

Elita opened her mouth to tell Chromia that she should eat, but then she changed her mind. Chromia was clearly in no mood to take orders, and Ironhide would take care of her once he was out of the brig.

Elita paused. "I'll get him back for you _before_ I get my breakfast." she said in a conciliatory tone, "I'll go straight to the brig from here."

Chromia didn't respond for a moment, but then she rolled over with an apologetic look on her face. "'M sorry, Elita." She murmured, "I didn't mean to be such a stinker." She looked up at Elita. "You really are the best friend a femme could ask for. Don't pay attention to me and my sulking. You came when I needed you, but now I'm just an outta-sorts brat who didn't get enough sleep last night. Have your breakfast, and send my mech over afterwards."

"Are you sure?"

Chromia nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright." Elita said then headed for the door.

"Elita,"

"Yes?" she paused and turned.

"Thank-you for looking after me last night." Chromia said softly.

Elita went back to her and leaned over to hug her. "You're my 'bestie.'" She said, "I have to look out for you."

That made Chromia smile. "Well, go look after yourself now. Have a good breakfast."

"I will." She said.

She went to the pub, sat down at a table, ordered a regular from Mirage, and then took out her data-pad to check her messages and the Base's news. There was a sweet good-morning note from Optimus that she read twice, and there was a brief note from Ratchet that said that Auri had slept well all night and that Soundwave's condition seemed to be stable now. That was good to know.

Optimus approached with two cubes of Energon, and Elita looked up in surprise, blinking at his sudden gorgeous appearance.

"Good morning," he said, his smile reserved but fond.

"Good morning," she said, "Were you here when I came in?"

He nodded, smiling a little more, and sat down across from her, sliding one of the cubes over to her.

She took it and sipped it, smiling as Optimus nudged her pede gently under the table. "You're rather forward for a waiter, sir." She teased, keeping her voice down.

Optimus leaned towards her. "I do more than wait on tables." He whispered, raising an optic-ridge meaningfully.

Elita coughed as she choked on her Energon for a moment. "Optimus." She chided, giving him a delighted look. "Bad mech."

He smiled at her and then lifted his Energon for a drink.

Elita chuckled at him.

Optimus glanced around at the few Bots who in the pub, and none of them were very near. Elita took a sip of Energon, watching her mech. Something was weighing on his mind.

"I read your reports," he said quietly then hesitated. He pursed his lips, hesitating a little, and then he opened his mouth to speak something, but then he changed his mind and closed it. Then he looked like he almost changed his mind again but decided not to, reluctantly.

Elita smiled in gentle amusement at him being tongue-tied; it amused her when he of all bots couldn't figure out what to say. –But it was a sympathetic amusement.

"I believe Chromia say would 'spit it, mech,' at this point." Elita said, giving him an understanding smile.

Optimus looked grim. "Ironhide,"

"Ah…" Elita said. His reticence all made sense now. Of course he would want to discuss that. "What about Ironhide?" she asked, wondering what exactly was on her mech's mind.

"As your spark-mate, I am _very_ inclined to chew him up _badly_." He said. He kept his voice down, but Elita heard an undertone of anger in it. "But." He made himself pause, and she looked over at him curiously, "As a commander, I know that that is your place." His tone was humble as he finished.

Elita smiled as she looked down at her Energon cube, feeling honored and prized. Her mech was completely ready to go take Ironhide down for being ugly to her, but his respect for her kept him from treading on her ground. It meant a lot, both ways, and she truly appreciated it that he was asking her, seeking her will instead of just going on with his. It was just like him.

"I love you." she said, meeting his optics seriously, "Yesterday, I think I would have let you take him down, but today, now that I've had a little space and time to think about him and incident, I think that I should handle him."

Optimus's expression did not change, but Elita noticed a little tightening of his jaw.

"You think I am going to be too light on him?" she asked; they'd had this sort of discussion before, so she knew.

"I… I do." he said carefully.

She tilted her cube on the table. "Optimus…" she said slowly, "This is Ironhide we're dealing with. You know he wouldn't intentionally hurt me for the world. It was a mistake, and you know how hard he takes mistakes. He's probably spark-broken right now."

He looked down. It took a moment, but he realized that she had a point. He nodded. "You are right." He said, meeting her optics. "He will have probably put himself through hours of mental punishment for it."

She nodded. Then a rueful smile hit her lips. "And he has Chromia."

Optimus winced. "That he does." He said. He shook his head. "Very well. I will keep out of it unless he wishes to discuss it with me."

"And he might." Elita said, giving him a thoughtful smile. He nodded and changed the subject to something lighter. They talked a bit more as they finished their Energon cubes, and then they left the pub, stopping outside on the street corner where they would have to part.

"I love you," Optimus reminded her gently as they hesitated.

"I love you, too," she said, wishing they could kiss out in the public like Ironhide and Chromia did.

Optimus put a finger under her chin and gently, lightly ran his thumb across her lips, making her wish all the more that they could kiss. "If you have the time," he said, "And nothing comes up, I will be in our quarters for the lunch hour."

"I'll definitely make a note of that." she said, meeting his optics with smile.

"Until then." He said, touching her lips with his fingertip and then heading off.

'Stay focused…' Elita told herself as her optics followed her mech, taking in the appealing, smooth, confident way that he walked. He could probably use a good oil rub all over, she thought. He hadn't gotten one last night, and she'd been planning that until Chromia had called for help. Time was such a hassle with the both of them being commanders. Others always needed him, or they needed her, or he was too tired for fun, or she was too tired for fun.

Optimus turned the corner and was gone.

Elita sighed and then headed for the brig.

When she entered the brig, she greeted the Bot on duty there and then went through the various doors to reach the cells. Up the hallway she walked, and then she came to Ironhide's cell.

He was sitting on the berth with his legs drawn up and his face hidden, exactly as he had been last time she'd seen him. She knew she had not misjudged him, and she felt her spark softening at how lost he seemed. She saw, then, that the Energon cube that she'd left for his lunch was still there on the floor, untouched, and it made her spark ache with sympathy for the tough warrior. He was spark-broken, just as she had told Optimus that it would be. He had to be pretty upset to turn down Energon through three meals. She'd left that cube for a late lunch, and he'd not taken it. He wouldn't have taken dinner or breakfast either.

She tried to say his name, but her throat choked up. She cleared it quietly and tried again. "I-Ironhide…?"

OoOoOoOoO

Ironhide hadn't recharged well that night, and the thought of even touching Energon had made him feel sick. The grief and sorrow that his spark was filled with had kept him from calming down, and the thought of Chromia suffering without him was torture. He'd felt her agony over their bond; only Elita's promise to look after Chromia had kept him from completely stressing out. Misery was the word that described what he felt. Abject misery.

He'd dozed a couple times, but his words had haunted him, as did Elita's face and Chromia's tears. He heard Elita's footfalls, but he wasn't sure if he'd entered another nightmare or not.

The footfalls stopped, and then there was silence. Waiting?

"I-Ironhide…"

He flinched. It wasn't a dream this time. This time it was real, and he would have to face it. He lifted his head up, his optics slowly focusing on the floor. He couldn't bring himself to even come close to looking her in the optics. He rose and stood.

"E-El-ita." He said brokenly.

She didn't say anything, and he couldn't bring himself to look to see what her expression was like. If he had, he would have seen her soft look of sympathy mixed with conflict. He didn't, though.

He dropped down to one knee, head bowed, but words refused to come. He had tried to think of words earlier, time and time again during the bitter night. None of the words had even seemed half adequate, though. He struggled to find some now, failing again. Failing, failing, failing.

He clenched his fists in grieved frustration and shook his head.

"'M, s-sorry," he choked out, his tone bitter at having nothing better to say, "I…" his chest heaved, "I c-an't find any, _any_ words that… that… fit…" he shook his head then bowed it lower, "I'm sorry, Elita." He whispered.

Elita opened the door and went into the cell; she knelt then sat before Ironhide.

"Ironhide," She said gently, "It's alright. I forgi-"

"I'm not even _asking _you to forgive."

Elita flinched involuntarily at the lash-like quality of his tone. She knew it wasn't for her, though; he was still beating himself up.

"Regardless," she said gently, "Whether you ask or not, I forgive."

He shook his head.

Elita hesitated, and then she rose. "Get up." She said softly but firmly.

Ironhide got to his feet as if weighed down.

"You listen to me," Elita said firmly, stepping close, close enough to touch. "I did not appreciate your insubordination yesterday, but I understood it. And I _know_ you, Ironhide. I know you wouldn't intentionally curse at me. You know it, too." she paused, "Yes, you failed yesterday. But you have a new day now. Do not let yesterday's fail define today. I forgave; now you need to forgive yourself."

Ironhide made no movement or response.

Elita stood there looking at him. "Let it go." She said softly, "I have seen you fail enough times to know that you won't let yourself make that mistake again."

She watched as the mech shifted ever so slightly, heard him gust a little cool air through his system.

"You're one of our best mechs, and we need you." She added quietly. "Chromia needs you."

He closed his optics for a couple seconds, and they were damp when he opened them again. He nodded his head miserably.

Elita reached out and put her hand on his arm. "It's alright." She whispered. He met her optics slowly, meeting them for the first time since yesterday. She held his optics with hers, gentleness and kindness in them, firmness as well. "Understood?" she asked. He nodded reluctantly then sighed. She took her hand down. "Will you drink your Energon now?" she asked.

He nodded. She stepped away and picked up the cube. Coming back to him, she held it out to him.

He took it slowly, and his optics settled on it. "Thank-you." He said softly, venturing to meet Elita's optics; he was thanking her for more than just the Energon. She nodded, and then he looked down to the cube. He fingered the cube for a moment, but then he lifted it and sipped a little. Then he began to drink it in earnest, as if he'd suddenly realized how empty his tank was. He seemed surprised when he finished the cube, and then he looked a little ashamed of guzzling it as he had.

"Chromia's not had any breakfast yet," Elita said, and he looked at her quickly then. "She…" she looked down, "We spent several hours last night polishing each other's pedes and fingers." She said significantly, knowing that Ironhide would understand the implications.

Ironhide shifted his weight and gusted a little cool air through his system. He foresaw the morning being a tough one. "I…" he trailed off as he changed his mind about his words. "Thank-you for looking after last night." He said gently, "I know she can be hard to deal with."

Elita shook her head as she bit her lip. "She wasn't hard to deal with last night. She-" she broke off as her throat choked up. A tear made its way down her cheek, and she found Ironhide gently taking her into his arms. His body was warm and comforting, his touch gentle, supporting, and she let him hold her, cradling her as if she was a youngling.

"She was too miserable to be ornery." Elita said softly as Ironhide tenderly brushed her tears away with his thumb.

"'M sorry I wasn't there." Ironhide told her gently,

"It's alright," Elita said. She allowed herself a small sniffle and then she moved away from Ironhide reluctantly and gave him a bit of a sad smile.

"You're a good friend." Ironhide told her, his optics on hers and his fingers still on her shoulder.

She smiled softly. "Thank-you." She said.

He nodded as he took his hand from her shoulder, and she missed its warmth. She missed Optimus, really.

She tilted her head towards the door. "We both have things to tend to."

"We do." He said.

She turned and headed out. They left the cell and went into the entry area of the brig. Ironhide stood and waited while Elita filled out her portion of the paperwork. He fought with his regret; part of him wanted to crumble up and writhe in misery, but he knew he had to leave it behind and push forwards. He had to stand like a mech and do what was needed of him.

"Your turn," Elita said, handing him the stylus for the data-pad.

He read, filled out a few things, signed, and then handed the stylus back to Elita so she could sign. He watched the stylus-tip as it gracefully swirled on the data-pad to make her name.

"Done." She said, looking up at him with a hint of a smile, "You are free to go now."

He nodded his head. They left the building together, and then they went separate ways, Elita heading for Med-Bay, and Ironhide heading to the quartering complex.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Prowl awoke and found himself crumpled up next to his berth. For a moment, he was confused, but then he recalled that he had overworked himself the night before. He had dropped into recharge before he'd actually gotten onto his berth; it had happened plenty times before, so it wasn't unusual, but it hadn't happened for a while.

He picked himself up carefully and inspected his paint job and finish in the full length mirror that hung in his quarters. There were some scuffs, mostly just ones from falling. He buffed them out, inspected again, and then, finding his appearance acceptable, he went out into his main room to get breakfast.

On opening the cupboard, he frowned. His Energon supplies were gone. Absent. Depleted. Empty. He'd known that they were getting low, but he didn't remember forgetting to refill them. Last night? Yesterday. Yesterday had been a mess, and that had been the day that he'd planned to refill his Energon store.

His wings lowered. He would have to do something different for breakfast, and he didn't like doing different things. He would have to go to the pub or the lounge. Neither place appealed to him at present, but he slowly decided that he would go to the lounge because it slightly closer to his quarters and because it was closer to Med-Bay. He meant to stop by Med-Bay.

He left and locked the door then transformed and drove away.

There was no one at the lounge, as he had expected. It was too early for most bots to be at the lounge; the bots who went out for meals generally went to the pub for breakfast and the lounge for lunch, and Prowl was there at an early breakfast hour.

He went to the store-room and got himself a regular cube, scanning it automatically for anything that shouldn't be in it. He didn't entirely trust Energon that was accessible to the twins and other such pranksters. The reading came up fine, though, so he headed over to a couch and sat down with his data-pad to keep him company.

He'd barely had three sips when Ultra Magnus came in. He glanced up.

"Good morning," Magnus greeted,

"Good morning." Prowl said, merely to be courteous. It was not a good morning, nor was it going to be, and no amount of well-wishing would change that. He vaguely realized that he was in a rather negative and pessimistic mood then, but Magnus didn't seem to notice and moved on.

Magnus got a cube then came over and sat on the couch across from the one Prowl was sitting on. He didn't say anything; he knew not to. He knew that asking 'Would you mind if I joined you' would result in Prowl giving him a brief stare, and then Prowl would either lie and say 'no' or he would be truthful and say 'Yes, I would mind.' And Prowl was nearly always truthful. Thus, Magnus simply didn't ask him if he could join; he just joined him.

Magnus also knew not to try to make conversation. If there were something serious to discuss, Magnus didn't want to discuss it over a meal, but Prowl didn't care to discuss anything that wasn't serious; thus, neither of them could talk to each other over a meal. It had taken Magnus a while to figure out these things out about Prowl, and he knew that Prowl's coldness was not personal.

He kept quiet, dwelling on his thoughts. He was going to have a busy if not stressful day. Red Alert needed him, as a senior officer, to help finish up smoothing out the new security schedule, and that job was never very fun. Red Alert was just a little bit of a perfectionist, and the bots always had countless questions, not always easily answered. Too, he would need to see if Elita wanted him to do anything with Ironhide.

Personally, he felt like shoving the other mech hard against a wall, hands rough on his shoulders, hurting him just a little but not much. 'How dare you address Elita like? How dare you.' He wanted to say. 'Where did your decency and honor go? You of all bots are one of the last I'd expect to treat her like that. I'm disappointed with you. I'm disgusted.' He'd felt the same way yesterday, only more so; he'd been more outraged and infuriated. He'd kept his calm, though; it never befitted an officer to lose his temper, especially at another officer who had lost his temper. Lost tempers were never good things. He knew how he'd felt the times that he'd lost his temper; he'd felt bad… and ashamed of himself.

He paused. Ironhide probably felt like that now. He'd known Ironhide long enough to know that the seemingly tough mech took his mistakes pretty hard. Maybe he didn't need to be chewed out. He probably didn't.

A sudden motion caught his optics, and he looked over. Prowl had gotten up quickly and was heading for the door.

"Is there a problem?" Magnus asked when Prowl simply stopped at the open door and stood there looking out.

"Not yet." Prowl said, coming back to his couch. "Ironhide is loose. He was heading towards to quartering complex, however, not Med-Bay." He sat and took another drink of his Energon calmly.

Magnus frowned slightly. Elita always informed him before releasing anyone whom he'd brigged for her. It bothered him a little that Elita hadn't said anything to him about Ironhide's release this time. He knew that she had higher rank and didn't _need_ to inform him before releasing anyone, but she always did.

"You were not informed?" Prowl asked, having seen the puzzled frown on Magnus's face.

"I was not." Magnus said, "But there is no regulation that requires her to inform me."

"Common courtesy." Prowl said, "She should have."

"Afterward Ironhide's release, I will be notified, of course."

"She should have informed you beforehand." Prowl persisted.

Magnus gave him an odd look; Prowl's sudden obsession with Elita's minor oversight was a touch illogical. "There is no reas-"

"Courtesy, I said." Prowl said, his wings flaring a little.

"'Courtesy' you say as you interrupt me." Magnus pointed out, starting to feel a little irate at Prowl's nonsense. "There is nothing discourteous about Elita."

"No, but-"

"There are no buts."

"There are alw-" Prowl broke off as he realized that the both of them had been raising their voices a little. His optics narrowed. "Are we arguing?" he asked, sounding slightly puzzled.

Magnus turned one of his hands palm-up in uncertainty. "I think we were." He said,

"There was no reason for it." Prowl said with a bit of a frown. "There was no call for me to critique Elita like that or to address you as I did, either. I apologize."

"Apology accepted." Magnus said with a nod.

"Thank-you." Prowl said then looked slightly disturbed as Magnus's data-pad gave a soft notification beep.

Magnus looked at the device, and a hint of a smile crossed his face. "Well," he said, "Elita would agree with you. She notified me of Ironhide's release and apologized for not informing me earlier that she was going to release him, saying that it was discourteous of her."

"She must have been preoccupied earlier." Prowl said, sounding a little preoccupied himself.

Magnus opened his mouth to agree, but then he paused and looked at the smaller bot. "Is there a new problem?" he asked. (He knew not to ask 'Is there a problem' because there was always some problem; inserting 'new' into his sentence was the way to get the answer closer to what he wanted).

"I have a lot to do today," Prowl replied, "I must go now." He rose and headed for the door.

Magnus glanced from Prowl's back to the half-empty Energon that he'd left on the table. "Prowl." He called.

Prowl halted and turned. "Yes?"

Magnus pointed to the Energon cube. "You forgot something."

Prowl's wings flicked up when he saw the cube. Then he came back and picked up the cube and left.

Magnus pursed his lips. Prowl didn't have it together. The fact that he was eating breakfast in the lounge meant that he'd forgotten to refill his house stores. His irritability meant that he'd not gotten enough sleep or proper sleep. His arguing over something small in a controlling manner meant that he was feeling particularly out of control. And the forgotten Energon meant that he anxious. Someone would need to keep an optic on him for the day.

Keeping an optic on Prowl was not an easy thing to do, really. He tended to be quite observant of who was around him and readily suspicious of extra or watchful bots. Auri was good at keeping an optic on him because she worked with him, but Magnus was fairly certain that she would be taking the day off. Both Elita and Ironhide could get away with dropping in on Prowl and checking on him, but Magnus knew he wouldn't be asking them. Both had enough to deal with at present. They were basically the only ones besides Ratchet and Prime who were really qualified to deal with Prowl, though. Ratchet had too much to do as well, and Prime didn't need another problem, not while preparing for potential Decepticon trouble.

Magnus gazed at his Energon cube with concern. Ruling out those bots left… that left… it left… there had to be somebody else. There was… Of course, there was… was…

He frowned. There was only him.

He felt mostly unqualified. He was able to communicate with Prowl in tactical situations and about war-related things, and he had eventually figured out how to communicate with him in general situations and in office settings. But. He wasn't even sure how to go about casually dropping in on Prowl to check on him without Prowl realizing what he was up to. Prowl would probably resist him if he realized what he was doing. Magnus sighed. He would just have to deal with it.

OoOoOoOoO

Prowl eased off his acceleration as he neared the speed limit. He would never be caught speeding. He felt so tense. Painfully tense. Things were going to be bad, and on top of it, he'd messed up back there with Magnus, and Magnus was smart enough to guess that he wasn't completely alright. He was caught. He might have gotten away with eating in the lounge, but his other little slip-ups would have definitely given him away. Being irritable without good reason was a giveaway that he'd not gotten enough proper recharge. He knew that Magnus knew that about him. The petty argument had probably cinched it in Magnus's processor that Prowl was stressing out, and forgetting the last bit of his Energon said the same thing.

Magnus, of course, would stalk him for it, he knew. He knew Magnus would feel that someone had to keep an optic on a stressed out Prowl, and everybody else was either too busy or not qualified or in the brig. Prowl gave a mild shudder at the thought of the twins being given the task of surveillance of him; they were qualified, but he knew Magnus wouldn't even think of them.

Prowl wondered if maybe, just maybe he _might_ be overestimating Magnus. He paused at a stop sign. No. Not a chance. He sighed and pulled forwards. He would just have to add Magnus to his calculations for this bad day.

He could possibly convince Magnus that he was fine, but that would require Magnus not guessing that Prowl was on to him. And Prowl wouldn't know if Magnus knew until Magnus showed up. If Magnus was subtle about checking on him, it would mean that he didn't think Prowl knew what he was doing; Prowl could try to trick him into thinking that he was fine, then. If Magnus wasn't subtle, though, Prowl would know that trying wouldn't get him anywhere.

Complicated.

He stopped at a stop sign.

Also, how would he convince Magnus that he was fine without seeming to?

He pulled forwards.

He would just have to be fine.

He was fine.

He came to Med-Bay, transformed, and walked through the doors into the reception area. Nobody was in there, but no one usually was. He went on into the main room, and finding it empty, he headed for the room where Auri would be. …where Auri would be with Soundwave. The Decepticon.

Prowl found himself stopping, his spark too heavy for his pedes to move. He wanted to crumple up on the floor and yell '_WHY?_' Why did Soundwave have to be Auri's old guardian? It opened up so many bad possibilities. If Soundwave lived, he could take her away, and Prowl would never see her again. There were so many, many bots that Prowl would never see again, why did Auri have to be heading for that list? Why? _Why?_ _Why?!_ He always lost anything and anyone that he cared for.

'_You stop it and calm down and quit being so illogical_,' he finally thought. There was good chance that Soundwave would live, but there was almost no chance that Auri would go with him. Proof of that lay in her present guardians; Ironhide and Chromia would never give her up. She was an Autobot, anyway, and she wouldn't align herself with the Decepticons, and going with Soundwave would be doing just that.

'_Auri is safe_,' he told himself. '_She's not going anywhere_.'

Unless Soundwave brainwashed her…

No.

That wouldn't happen. If Soundwave truly loved Auri, he wouldn't do that to her; thus, she wouldn't go with him. If Soundwave didn't truly love her and was scum enough to try brainwashing, the Autobots would never let her go with him; thus, she wouldn't go with him.

Besides. Chromia would shoot the mech dead if he tried to take Auri away. And Ironhide would help her without a moment's hesitation.

Auri would be just fine, and he wouldn't lose her.

"Owwww!" Auri's squeal of pain came from the other room at that moment, jolting Prowl from his calculations.

Prowl wings flicked up in dismay, and he hurried to the room to see what was wrong.

"Aw, Ratchet," Auri grumbled as Prowl entered, and she was pressing her hand against the back of her shoulder, and Ratchet was standing by her. Ratchet glanced over at Prowl. "That really didn't feel good." Auri said, looking up at the medic. Prowl couldn't see her face, but he knew from her tone and the set of her wings that she was most likely giving him a reproachful look.

Prowl felt his insides lurch when he saw the needle in Ratchet's hand, and he fought the impulse to run from the room.

"I know," Ratchet said patiently, "But it's better than being sick with a virus."

"When will we figure out something that works besides needles?" Auri asked as Ratchet put a little patch on her shoulder.

"We have pills for some things that needles take care of, but we don't have them for antiviruses like this one yet. Let me have your wrist now."

Auri held up her wrist for Ratchet, and he took it, positioning the needle. Prowl looked away. He couldn't take needles. Decepticons used needles for torture and interrogation, poisoning their victims, leaving them weak and uncertain, vulnerable to painful mental attacks. They tried to tear his mind apart and inflicted further agony on him when he resisted them.

"Ou-!"

"Just one more now." Ratchet said, and Prowl knew that he was wrapping some gauze around Auri's wrist. "I'll need you to hop up on this berth now."

Prowl heard Auri climb up onto a berth and lie down.

"Prowl's here," he heard her whisper to Ratchet.

"I know," Ratchet whispered back, "He's been here for a couple minutes now."

"nf!"

"All done now." Ratchet said, but Prowl still didn't turn around. He listened as Ratchet put things away and hoped the needle was one of those things.

"Hello, Prowl." Auri greeted, approaching.

He turned. "Hello." He said, his optics meeting hers before going to the gauze around her wrist. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "I am now. I didn't feel well when I woke up, so Ratchet scanned me and found that I had a dormant virus onlining in my system."

"Ah." Prowl said, thinking about this.

"It was sort of like the kind of virus that you contracted a few months ago. It got in but stayed asleep until a stressor triggered it; only mine was an emotional stressor and yours was a physical one."

Prowl nodded, He knew about that sort of thing.

"But it is a common virus, so Ratchet had an antiviral on hand for it."

"That is good..." Prowl said, his optics straying from her towards the screen that showed the readings on Soundwave as he thought of something. Soundwave could have been carrying the virus. Auri had had some of Soundwave's life Energon on her yesterday, and if she'd gotten any of it on or in her mouth, she could have easily contracted a virus from it. She was ignorant enough of virus to have been careless about Energon contamination.

"Prowl?" Auri asked,

"Yes…?" He found her gazing up at him curiously.

"You are staring very hard at that screen."

"I was. I was thinking." He said. He could not tell Ratchet his idea, and the virus could run a while before Ratchet discovered it, and then it would be too late to save the already critically injured Con. He felt mentally jolted and shoved that thought away. He hadn't meant to think it; it had simply dropped in uninvited. He would never do a thing like that. "Ratchet."

"Yeah?"

"Could Auri have contracted the virus from Soundwave?"

Ratchet stared at him for a second then hurried over to the monitor. "This would have notified me of any virus," he said, beginning to type.

Prowl glanced down at Auri and saw a look of dismay on her face. Ratchet hadn't answered Prowl's exact question. "Could I have?" she asked in a concerned little voice.

"Not 'could.'" Ratchet said, his tone grim. "Did. Prowl's almost right. Soundwave does have a virus. It's different from yours, but it activated yours. And I have no idea how it got past the monitor."

"Oh, no-!"

"JOLT!" Ratchet called,

"Now what?" Auri whimpered, putting her hands over her optics.

"We take care of it." Ratchet said as Jolt came in. "Virus transmitted from one of the assault weapons." Ratchet said to him, pointing at the screen. Jolt joined him at the monitor, and the two began talking in low tones and medic jargon.

"Those flyers really, _really_ must have wanted him dead." Auri said softly, looking over at her old guardian.

"Not without cause." Prowl said quietly. "You have read about some of the things he has done to Autobots, and he is hardly kind to the Cons under his command."

Auri looked up at him. "But there must be some good in him, else he wouldn't have looked after me."

"He could have been looking after you in order to use you later." Prowl stated, and Auri gave him a shocked stare that cut to his spark. "I should not have said that." he said softly, "It was harsh and judgmental, and I had no right say it."

"Do you think it, though?" Auri asked in a little voice.

Prowl looked down. "I thought it but for a moment. I spoke rashly. I do not know Soundwave nor do I know what goes on in his head; it was wrong of me to make such a harsh accusation without any proof whatsoever. Forgive me, please."

Auri nodded. "Forgiven." She said softly but uncertainly. She wasn't sure what to think. Everyone around her seemed to think Soundwave was the evilest and vilest of Decepticons. She herself had looked on him with fear and distrust. But he had been her guardian and looked after her tenderly. How did everything fit together?

"That should work." Jolt's words drew the door-wingers' attention, and they looked over, Auri with hopeful curiosity and Prowl with grim expectancy. Ratchet turned and looked over at them, glanced back at Jolt and then headed towards them.

"Prowl," Ratchet said, putting a hand lightly on Auri's shoulder, "Could you take Auri and get her some breakfast?"

Auri gasped softly in dismay at the thought of leaving, but she knew better than to protest.

"Yes." Prowl said with a nod.

"Thank-you. She can be back in half an hour." Ratchet added, seeing the pleading look in Auri's optics. "We should be done with the antiviral work by then."

"Very well." Prowl said,

"And get yourself a cube, too, while you're at it." Ratchet said off-handedly as he turned to go back to his monitor, "You're energy reading's just a little low."

Prowl felt his defenses rise at the medic. It seemed as if Ratchet had simply assumed that he hadn't eaten a proper breakfast and was using Auri to make him eat. The off-handed remark seemed little too studied, as if Prowl didn't know what was good for himself. Meddling medic. It was personally insulting.

He felt a light touch on his arm and looked down to find Auri looking up at him with thoughtful concern. He realized then that he'd been selfish, getting upset like that. He gave her half a hint of a smile and motioned towards the door. "Do you wish to go to the pub or the lounge?" he asked, following her out.

"The lounge." She said, "It's closer."

"Very well." Prowl said, and he hoped that Magnus wasn't still there.


	8. Chapter 8, Confrontations

Hellos! Hugs! I still have the cough, and now I have a sunburn, too. I spent hours at a car show, and the weather was cool enough that I didn't even think about the sun until it was too late. I had a delightful time, though! I loved it. And I got to sit in a gorgeous 1957 Chevy Bel Air! (HUGE treat!) XD

Well, here we go… Chromia and Ironhide back together again. I mildly disturbed myself by what I wrote, so… uh… PG13 for violence, language, and some sensuality. And then we'll have some nice Prowl and Auri fluff. And Magnus. Magnus doesn't get enough attention. Chapter ends in a cliffie…

Also! This story has made it to 100 reviews! You guys are awesome! Congratulations to **icesong180** for turning in the 100th review! X)

* * *

Chapter 8

**Confrontations**

Ironhide pulled up to his quarters and halted, engine idling for a couple minutes. He transformed and stood there, trying to mentally prepare himself. He didn't know what exactly he was going to be getting into, though, and it was hard to prepare when everything was a variable. Elita hadn't told him how much Chromia knew.

He only knew that Chromia had been miserable last night; he didn't know if Elita had told her what he'd said or how he'd acted. Chromia might be miserable-unhappy and need comforting, or she could be nasty-unhappy and need calming. If Elita had told Chromia what he'd said and done, he could get his tail kicked. She might be calm, though, cool and reasonable. Or she could have worked herself into a rage now and be ready to slam her fists into him. She might have a stinging lecture for him or an irate rant, or she might be crying softly. Or Elita might not have told her, knowing that it would upset her.

He didn't like going into a situation without knowing what the other bot had for him.

But, he was a battle-mech, and he did not shirk when he had a job to do. He braced keyed in the door-code, opening the door to a quiet room. He entered and closed the door behind himself as he looked over towards where Chromia was standing by the table.

"'Mia," he said, and the next moment she was there wrapping her arms around him, hiding her face against his chest.

"I missed you-" she whispered brokenly, holding him tightly as he gently put his arms around her, "I missed you- so- much-" she added, pressing her body against his, wrapping a leg around his. "Don't leave me again," she coaxed, still whispering, "Just don't-"

"I won't," he whispered back, his lips close to her neck. He could do this; Chromia was just unhappy. He could comfort her. He kissed her neck, and she purred in pleasure as he nibbled gently. He kissed her more, massaging her back and sides.

He purred, tugging her closer and kissing her more. His hands slid over her body, but guilt stabbed him in his spark. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve anything pleasant, anything delightful, not after what he'd done.

She rubbed against him as she stood on tiptoes, "Love you," she whispered, nuzzling him, and he realized that he'd stopped responding to her. He hesitated, not sure whether to speak or to go on.

Chromia felt his hesitate, and she wondered. She looked up, saw the guilt in his optics, and remembered what Elita had said yesterday, as well as what she'd told herself yesterday. Ironhide wasn't getting away treating Elita like he had.

"I forgot." She growled softly as her fists curled. "I forgot that you treated Elita like scum."

Ironhide opened his mouth to speak, but Chromia struck then, gashing the metal of his jaw with a left cross.

"HOW dared you?!" Chromia demanded, "D- it mech! She has done so much good to all of us and so much good for _you_. Never has she ever given us reason to doubt her, and the second that you get some d- glitching idea in your xxxxed head, you turn around say 'glitch you' to her?" She slammed a fist upwards into his ribs, "Where the d-ed hell did you ever get the idea that you could do that? Did the decency component drop out of your processor? I'm just shocked 'n' disgusted with you. Of all the fragging mechs on this whole base, _you_ would do that? I would expect it of anybody before you with few exceptions. Just- just- d- you!" her fist slammed into his shoulder, "And glitch you, too! You don't even _care_. Just wh-"

"Hey." Ironhide's tone was one of quiet warning, and his optics were suddenly stern.

"What?" Chromia snarled,

"You can rant at me all day long for the way I treated Elita, and I deserve it." He said quietly, "And you have the right to be mad at me for not being there when you needed me. But I'm not about to let you say that I don't care. I care immensely. There aren't even words for how much."

"Try '_glitch you_' on for size, _those_ words might work." She spat.

"No." Ironhide said softly, his jaw tightening. He felt slightly sick. Elita must have told her everything. "I mean it." he pleaded, "Don't say that."

She slammed a right cross into his face, and Energon trickled from his lip. "Don't you order me."

"'M sorry,"

"Yeah?" enraged scorn tinged her tone.

"Yes." He said quietly, his optics intense. "It's been a long time since I've said or done anything that I've regretted as much as I regret my words and actions towards Elita. And they weren't deliberate. They were instinctive reactions, not sensible actions."

"I'm gonna listen to you for three minutes, mech." Chromia said, her fists still curled, her chin jutting a little, "And if I don't like what you have to say," she moved a hand and raised a pointer finger in his face, "You are not gonna to like what _I_ will have to say. That clear in your processor?"

Ironhide nodded.

"Go." Chromia said.

Ironhide sighed as he looked down. Three minutes wasn't a long time.

"Chromia," he said quietly, "Everything would have been fine if any other Con had been the one on that beach, but it was Soundwave. Soundwave. Do you know what he is to me? He tried to persuade Auri to go with him when she first arrived on earth, and he tried kidnapping her twice –once when she was badly hurt and once when she was emotionally vulnerable. He is a threat to her. He. Is. A. threat. To. My. _Family_. That includes you. And Flareup. And Prowl. And Bumblebee. The hurt and damage he could have done to her and to us if he had gotten a hold on her would have been unthinkable, 'Mia. Unthinkable. My instinct was to eliminate so severe a threat to my family, the ones I love, the ones I would _die_ for. If I had to disobey orders and cross officers to eliminate that threat, I was of the mindset to do so. I fought Elita simply because she was there, not because she was Elita. If Prime had been in her place, I would have fought Prime. I probably would have struck him." He paused.

"Ninety seconds," Chromia said quietly,

Ironhide bit his lip then winced and pressed two fingers against the side of his mouth where Chromia's fist had damaged it.

"Chromia… Chromia, I did not mean to hurt Elita." He hung his head and searched for words. "I…" he trailed off then sighed. "Last night was miserable." He said softly, "All I could think of was how I had hurt her and how I wasn't there for you when you needed me. Elita told me that she would look after you, and that was the only, _only_ thing that kept me from going insane with grief. I desperately wish that I could undo what I did and unsay what I said, but I can't; no one can. I apologized to Elita this morning, and she forgave before I was finished. I have yet to forgive myself, though. I _hate_ what I've done, how I've acted, what I've said. And I don't blame you one byte for wanting to thrash me. I don't. I fully deserve it."

"You sure do." Chromia said in a quiet, unreadable tone, "Get down on fours."

Ironhide felt his insides lurch. Decepticons did this their inferiors, made them get down on all fours and then beat them. He'd not thought it imaginable that Chromia would do that to him, but if that was what it took, he would submit to it, as sick as the thought of it made him. He got down on his knees and then put his hands on the floor, bracing them well apart, readying for the inevitable blows.

He heard Chromia come close, and he bit his lip. He knew how hard she could kick. He knew. He stiffened as she lifted her foot.

Then…

She was gently pushing him to sit, her arms encircling him as she sat beside him, crumpling against him. "I would never thrash you, Ironhide," she whispered softly, apologetically, regret in her tone. "Never. I just had to know for certain that… that you meant it and weren't just talking."

Ironhide nodded slowly, realizing what she was saying. She'd had to check his sincerity; she'd never intended to give him a Con beating. He felt her body shudder as she started to cry silently. Gently, he pulled her around onto his lap and cradled her in his arms, letting her cry on him. "'Mia, my Chromia," he whispered, "It's alright. I understand." He gave her gentle kisses as he caressed her, and slowly her tears subsided.

"I didn't sleep well last night." She said softly, still resting her head on him.

"That makes two of us," Ironhide said, his tone gentle and understanding.

"But you didn't read Elita's and Magnus's reports."

"Oh, Chromia." Ironhide said softly,

"I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to wake Elita, so I accessed the reports and read them. Elita's report was truthful but gentle. Magnus's didn't spare you, though. Mags stated exactly what he saw and heard without any word to soften it. You know how he writes, almost as cold as Prowl."

Ironhide nodded, and Chromia went on. "When Elita told me about Soundwave, she told me that you'd cursed at her, but she hadn't told me how or where or under which circumstances. When I read Magnus's account of it, it made me so upset, so mad; I felt almost like you'd stabbed me in the back. It hurt. I felt like breaking the data-pad and hurling it across the room, but I didn't. I just turned it off and curled up and cried because you weren't there."

"I am sorry, my Chromia," he whispered.

"It's alright now." She said softly, looking up, meeting his optics. She moved to kiss him but then hesitated. "I… I'm sorry I hit you so hard." She said, sounding almost a little embarrassed.

"I deserved it, 'Mia; it's alright."

She kissed him carefully and then pulled out her standard issue first aid kit. "Don't move." She said, and, still sitting in his lap, she gently cleaned the wound and carefully rubbed a topical pain-killer over the bruised areas.

Ironhide watched her as she took care of him, and he loved it. He found himself feeling much better, far better than he'd expected to feel for several days. He opened his mouth quickly and lightly caught her finger between his teeth when it brushed his lip. She gave him a disapproving smile when he ran his tongue over the digit. He knew it felt good; fingers were quiet sensitive to stimulation, and the tongue was a good stimulator, highly charged with energy as it was.

"Didn't they feed you in the brig?" she said with half a smile.

"Nn-nn." Ironhide flirted at her with his optics.

She gave him a reluctant smile. "I don't really feel like playing now," she said, and he let her finger go. "I feel so tired."

He nodded. "I understand." He said. Then he sighed. "I_ know_."

"Confronting you was emotionally draining on top of an emotionally and physically draining night." She said softly.

"I know it was, and I am sorry," Ironhide took her chin in his fingers and looked her in the optics. "I won't put you in that position like that again." he promised, winning a smile from her.

She beckoned, and he kissed her.

"Now," he said after the kiss, "We both need breakfast."

Chromia nodded. "And we need to go see Auri once we have ourselves together better."

"Elita said she would take care of her, but yes, we do need to go see her."

"Poor sparkling…"

Ironhide helped Chromia put away her first aid things, and then they got up, and he got Energon cubes while Chromia went and sat on the couch. They didn't say much while they ate breakfast, but they cuddled, Chromia taking comfort from Ironhide until she fell asleep. Ironhide finished his Energon slowly and then gently took Chromia to their berth-room and laid her down on the berth so she could recharge better.

He paused, standing by the berth. He wasn't ready to go out and face the Med-Bay bots and Auri, not in the sleep deprived state that he was in. The battle mech in him resisted the thought of sleeping while there were things that needed to be done, but he listened to his inner medic and his spark. He lay down beside his femme, cuddled her, and gave himself up to some much-needed recharge.

OoOoOoOoO

Prowl found Auri unusually silent as they walked to the lounge, and it troubled him a little. On the rare occasions that the two of them walked together, she generally talked to him or got him to talk to her. This time there was silence. She was thinking, he realized, immersed in thoughts too painful or troubling to voice yet. It made his spark ache when he realized this. He'd not wanted her to ever feel pain as he had, but now she was having a little taste of it.

He reached over and touched her shoulder, causing her to look up at him questioningly.

"I am sorry," he said softly, "That things… things… are… are… uh," he gave up when a bit of a smile touched her lips.

"Thank-you." She said, and her words were soft, as were her optics. She understood that it was hard for him to express feelings, and it meant a great deal that he'd tried to. "Things are a bit overwhelmingly stressful," She said softly, "But I think we'll be alright."

Prowl looked for some suitable words but ended up just nodding.

"You are a good friend, Prowl." Auri told him, and it made his spark ache a little more because everyone he befriended got hurt by the Cons. It was already starting to happen to her with Soundwave's arrival. He felt miserable for it.

They walked up the driveway to the lounge, and Auri entered first.

"Good morning, Magnus," she greeted softly, and Prowl wondered how a mech could take so, so, so long with breakfast as to still be there.

"Good morning, Auri," Magnus said from his couch, an unusual amount of care and concern in his tone, "How are you today?" he asked softly,

"I…" she faltered, "I… need a hug." She whimpered.

Magnus motioned her over instinctively, and she ran to him, fairly hurling herself into his lap.

"It's stressful, too stressful!" she cried softly as he lifted her cautiously and cradled her in his arms.

"I… I'm sure it is…" Magnus faltered, not sure what to say. He didn't see himself as guardian material. True, he had a great deal of affection for the little femme, her antics generally amused him, and he always liked it when she had to stop by his office to deliver or pick up a data-pad, but he had no idea how to deal with her in a crisis. She treated him like an uncle, and he liked that. He could do _uncle_. This crying and sniffling stuff was for guardians to handle, though, and it was quite over his head. He felt rather helpless.

He looked over to Prowl; he knew Prowl had figured how to deal with Auri in a crisis, but Prowl was heading over to the Energon storage room, his back towards Magnus.

"It will be alright," Magnus told Auri gently, hoping deeply that he wouldn't be made a liar. '_Uh…?_' he thought, _'What does she need? What does she need to hear? Um… comfort… comforting words… What would be comforting? Comfort allays fear… What does she fear? Oh. Magnus, you have a slow processor. Abandonment is what she fears._' He gave Auri a snuggle. "Your family and friends are here for you, Auri." He assured her. She seemed to calm down a little at that, and it encouraged him. "We'll look after you and listen when you need to talk." He added, "Whatever you need, we will always be here for you."

He glanced over towards the Energon storage room, and Prowl was standing just outside the door, mixing something into a cube of Energon to flavor it. Prowl's optics met Magnus's for just a moment and then he looked back down at the cube. In that moment, though, Magnus got the impression that his words to Auri had pleased Prowl. It, oddly enough, warmed his spark. He remembered a time months ago when Prowl had been in Med-Bay, and he, Magnus had been filling in for Prowl. Auri had been contrary, and he hadn't been able to handle her. He'd stumbled around a bit (figuratively) and then called Prowl for help. He hadn't done well with Prowl's advice, and Prowl had slipped out of Med-Bay to set him and Auri straight. Magnus had seen it as a personal failure on his part, and it had hung over him from time to time, particularly when he was around both Prowl and Auri. He felt like he'd redeemed himself now, overcome that failing.

"B-but Ironhide and Chromia haven't been-n here with me," Auri's soft and broken words gave Magnus a new feeling of unease. His victory of saying the right thing had just opened the door to more difficult challenges for him. '_Congratulations, Commander, you succeeded level one, now proceed to level five_,' he thought grimly to himself.

"Why haven't they?" Auri asked softly, "Are they too upset with me? I didn't even know he was Soundwave, I didn't. They don't still want me…?"

Magnus heard Prowl take a sharp intake of air.

"Auri, no." Prowl said, coming over quickly, "Do not think that. They are not upset with you, and they will always want you."

"Then, why… why haven't they been here?"

"Auri," Magnus said gently, "Ironhide has been in the brig since yesterday, and that is why he couldn't be with you." He hesitated. Then he shifted her on his lap and made her look at him, "Listen. Ironhide got pretty upset when he saw Soundwave because he knew Soundwave had tried to take you away from him in the past. He got so upset that he crossed Elita and talked back to her pretty badly, and that's why I had to brig him. That is how much he cares for, Auri. Don't ever think he doesn't want you. He will break rules to protect you; he will cross commanders to keep you safe."

"Oh…" Auri said softly, looking down as she thought about this. "And… and Chromia?"

Magnus glanced over at Prowl to see if Prowl knew anything on Chromia, but Prowl shook his head.

"I don't know why Chromia hasn't come to see you," Magnus said, "But I am sure, dead certain, that it is not because she doesn't want you or because she's upset with you. She might have stayed away because she didn't want to cause a scene. She could have easily gotten upset like Ironhide had, as volatile as she is. Remember last week?"

Auri nodded. An overconfident and careless Jeep driver on Base had lightly sideswiped Auri on the road, and Chromia had been ready to total the driver's vehicle with him in it. There had been some yelling. Prowl had had to raise his voice at Chromia, and he was usually the last bot to raise his voice.

"Okay?" Magnus asked, hoping that had done the trick.

Auri nodded. "Uh-huh." Then she looked over and saw Prowl standing near with a full Energon cube in his hands. "Is that mine?"

"It is," he said, handing it to her.

"Thank-you." She said before taking a drink. Then she smiled as she swallowed. "This is _really_ good." She told Prowl, her tone almost admiring.

"I am glad you like it." Prowl said.

There was a little bot of silence while Auri drank some of her Energon. Prowl decided that he might as well sit down and took a seat on the couch Magnus and Auri were on.

"Did you flavor _your_ Energon?" Auri asked Prowl after a few drinks, and it bothered him a little for some unknown reason.

"I did not." Prowl said. Then he realized why it bothered him that she'd asked; she was bringing up his Energon because Ratchet had. He took out his partially full Energon cube. "I generally just take it plain."

"Maybe you would like it better if you flavored it."

Prowl raised an optic-ridge at her. "I like my Energon just fine, Auri."

"Ratchet seemed to think there was some problem." She pointed out then took a sip as she made an eloquent motion with her hand.

Prowl nodded his head once as if he was taking up a challenge. "Ratchet requested I get you breakfast simply because you needed to be looked out for."

"I am not a sparkling, Prowl; I do not need help getting breakfast."

"You had a traumatic day yesterday and you got shot up with antivirus this morning; Ratchet was concerned for your well-being, not your breakfast-getting capabilities." Prowl tilted his Energon cube a little and then drank some.

Magnus watched the two door-wingers with a sense of amazement. There was nothing in their tones or manners that indicated that they were having an argument. There were no contrary tones or displeased flicking of wings; they were simply stating their differences of opinion in the same way two bots would talk about the weather or the functions of a rifle.

"I could have had breakfast in Med-Bay." Auri said with a calculating tone.

"Ratchet would have been distracted by your presence." Prowl replied.

Auri paused as if being quizzed. "He is a field doctor." She said after a second, "He does work while gunfire is exploding around him. It takes a lot more than a little femme in the other room to distract him from a patient."

"That is partially true. I now add that he had more than one reason for sending you out of Med-Bay."

"Oh?" Auri inquired,

"He wanted you to have a change of scenery, some sunshine, and a little exercise; all of which work for your benefit."

"He could have sent me out to the courtyard."

Magnus held up a hand, "Just… a question…?" he said, having felt puzzled for long enough.

"Yes?" Prowl said. Auri took a drink.

"Are… are you arguing? And why?"

Auri smiled up at him.

"We are _practicing_ arguing," Prowl explained, "It is to practice debating and reasoning skills, and it also works as a distraction."

"Ah-h." Magnus said, feeling suddenly enlightened, "I see now." He smiled back down at Auri. "Go on."

The door-wingers continued their debate, and Auri lost it just before Prowl finished the last bit of his Energon. Auri's wings flicked as she looked down. "I never do win." She said quietly.

"You have not had enough practice to 'win' yet." Prowl said, fingering his empty cube. "You argued well, though."

"But I never win." Auri protested, looking frustrated, "I never, ever win."

"Auri," Prowl almost sounded reproachful, "It is very illogical for you to think that you could beat me." He said, "I had months and months of debate training and practice at the University. It was very intensive, and it was very competitive. We had competitions among ourselves, and we had competitions against other classes and against other schools. It was a weapon that I had to hone to precision. You do not expect to beat Chromia in battle practice, do you?"

"She lets me win sometimes. And so does Ironhide."

"They _let_ you win. Do you see it as a victory if the other side pulls back and _lets_ you win? I could let you win, but I believe that would be doing you a disservice."

Auri looked frustrated. She huffed cool air through her system. "Prowl…" she stopped. Prowl watched her expressions shift as she thought. She paused. "Ironhide and Chromia don't merely let me win. They plan a weakness ahead of time, and I have to find that weakness. I have to work to find it. You are teaching me how to argue, Prowl, but you are not giving me any opportunity to learn how to tear apart my opponent's argument."

Prowl looked mildly surprised. He paused. He paused a little longer then gave her an acquiescing nod. "Nicely done." he said, his tone betraying a slightly impressed tone, "You took my example question, drew from it, and used its context against me. _And_ you have persuaded me."

Auri looked quite happy about this, smiling a genuinely cheerful smile for the first time since yesterday.

"But you have not finished your Energon, and it is almost time to return." Prowl pointed out before she could say anything.

Auri looked down at her Energon then and took a long drink. Magnus watched Prowl study his empty Energon cube. So, Prowl was teaching her arguing skills as well as Praxian dialect? Prowl who did not get involved was possibly starting to get involved. Auri was learning a great deal from Prowl; that was obvious. Magnus wondered, though, what Prowl was learning from Auri.

Auri tilted the cube completely up as she finished it. Some of the flavoring metal powders had settled, and they stayed caught on the side of the cube as the last of the Energon drained away. Auri brought cube down and stuck two fingers in, swiping the side to get the metals. Prowl shook his head at her, but she didn't see, being too focused on her food. She licked her fingers delicately then wiped her mouth with her thumb.

"Done." She said, holding the cube out for Prowl to take.

"Indeed." Prowl took the cube with a rather unreadable look.

"You never stuck your fingers in your Energon cube and licked them?" Auri asked him as she settled against Magnus. Magnus watched Prowl.

"Not since I was a sparkling." Prowl said, heading over to the Energon storage room.

Auri sighed. "I think you grew up too fast, Prowl." She said softly.

Magnus saw Prowl flinch then freeze. After several long seconds, Prowl shifted his wings with effort and made his pedes take him forward, but he couldn't answer. He put the empty cubes in the recycle can and then came back to the couch.

"Ratchet intercommed and said that we could come back now and that the antivirus is working." He said, motioning for Auri to get up.

"Oh, good!" Auri said. She gave Magnus a hug. "Bye, Magnus. Thank-you." She kissed his cheek and then got up.

"Take care." Magnus told her gently. He nodded to Prowl, and Prowl gave him a brief nod back.

Prowl walked Auri back to Med-Bay, and she hurried to Soundwave's room once they were indoors. Prowl followed more slowly. He didn't want to see Soundwave.

"Elita-! Good morning," he heard Auri greet the femme commander in Soundwave's room.

Then there was Elita's voice, more gentle than ever, answering, "Good morning, Auri."

"Elita, why hasn't Chromia come to see me?"

Prowl winced at the vulnerability in Auri's tone and decided to just stand outside the door. He'd seen enough suffering in his life. He didn't want to see the troubled look that would be on Auri's face, dimming her optics.

"Aw, Auri." Elita's voice was soft, "I should have told you. Chromia came yesterday while you were asleep. She had to go before you woke up, but she did come."

"Okay." Auri sounded a little comforted.

"She couldn't come in because seeing Soundwave made her feel sick, so I do not believe she'll be able to visit you while you're with Soundwave, but she could visit you in another room."

"Alright." Auri sounded much comforted now. "Oh, where's Prowl? I have to check something with him before he leaves…" Auri stuck her head out of the room. "Prowl?"

"Yes," he said,

"Um… I…" she hesitated and looked worried, "I mean… Um, uh… about work…"

"I am not expecting you to come to work today." Prowl told her gently. "I originally came here to tell you that."

She looked relieved. "Thank-you."

Prowl nodded. "I must go now."

"Alright." She said reluctantly. She ventured to give him a hug, and she was touched by how kindly he hugged her back. His embrace was snugger than it had ever been before, and it was more lingering, as if he would hold her for a while if she needed him to.

Prowl made himself let go and step back, reminding himself that he could not get emotionally attached to anybody. '_Isn't it too late, though?_' a grim little voice in his head asked, and it scared him. "Good bye." he said, turning towards the door.

"Bye, Prowl, see you later."

He nodded as he headed for the door, and he was glad that there was going to be extra work for him at the office. He needed everything possible to keep his processor occupied.

He did Auri's tasks at the office as well as his own. He didn't have time to think, and he needed to not think, so that was a relief. He felt himself feeling mildly sick towards lunch time, though. He would have to stop working for lunch… Or, he could work through lunch. He would work through lunch. Auri wasn't there to know. Auri wasn't there.

He worked up to the lunch hour and then got an Energon cube from his office stash, taking it back to his desk. He drank a little as he worked, monitoring the security cameras outside his office as well, keeping an optic out for anyone who might be coming to check on him.

Magnus appeared on the monitor about fifteen minutes into the lunch hour. Prowl quickly saved his work, offlined the data-pad, and put it away in a drawer before pulling up a partially solved game of 3D Cyber-Sudoku on his computer. He quickly reviewed his earlier work on the puzzle and began working on it again.

Magnus knocked on the door, and Prowl called for him to come in, quite without hesitation. When Magnus entered, Prowl watched carefully without seeming to, and he saw Magnus dart a swift, surreptitious calculating look at the data-pads on Prowl's desk and the glow of the computer screen.

"Hello," Magnus greeted,

"Hello. Is something new going on?" Prowl asked, tilting his Energon cube meaningfully.

"Not that _I_ know of." Magnus said, "I had an early lunch and thought I would stop by to see if you needed a hand with anything around here."

"Ah." Prowl said, "Well, no, not at present, and I cannot think of anything that I will need help with later. I got Smokescreen to take Auri's patrols, and we have a lull in the liaison harassment –we always do this time of year. Things are in good shape here, I believe. Thank-you for offering your help, though."

"Alright. You are welcome." Magnus said, but he hesitated, his optics straying towards Prowl's computer.

Prowl turned the screen so Magnus could see it. "3D Cyber-Sudoku." Prowl said, "And you are not going to help me with it."

"I play it myself sometimes." Magnus said almost conversationally, "Which level are you on?"

Prowl's conscience suddenly caught up to him and stabbed him hard. His optics went to the screen as he realized how blatantly he was lying to Magnus. "Twenty-six." He said.

"Mm." Magnus sounded rather like he'd gotten lightly punched in the midriff, "No, I certainly won't be helping you. I have been stuck on level nineteen for a while now."

Prowl nodded politely; words couldn't come.

"Well, let me know if anything comes up that you would like me to take care of." Magnus said, turning to go.

"I shall." Prowl said quietly, and Magnus headed for the door. Prowl bit his lip, something he rarely did. Magnus left, and Prowl put his head on his desk in defeat.

'_You don't lie, Prowl. It's not right._' His conscience reproached him.

'_I know, I know._' He thought back miserably, '_I almost never lie, and I never lie to my fellow Bots. What's gotten into me?_' he asked himself.

'_I just want everything to be alright. Normal._

_Normal? What on earth is "normal" anymore? Normal no longer exists… if it _ever_ existed. _

_Fine. There is no normal. Routine, then. I want things routine as they were before Soundwave showed up. I want Auri here, and our lunchtime Praxian dialect lessons. _

_Oh, I liked teaching her Praxian dialect, did I? _

_Yeah… I did. I really, really did. It was… It was fun. _

_Well, there is my problem. Everything I like goes away. I'm almost surprised that this job hasn't gone away, but I guess there enough times that I hate it that it doesn't quite make the list of things that make me happy. _

_OH….! WHY…?! _

_Back to the first why. Why did I lie to Magnus? _

_I didn't want to get taken to task for working when I had a break. I've had that happen more than once… even though he's not my commanding officer. I knew he was concerned about me, and I didn't want him to be because he isn't usually. I pretended that I was doing what I should so he would think things were fine and go away. I just want things to be fine again. _

_Oh, Prowl. _

_I'm going to feel guilty all day. _

_Scratch that. I'm going to feel guilty until I forget, and that won't be until days after I've confessed my falsehood to him and apologized. _

_Ngh. _

Prowl put his head up. He didn't want to tell Magnus that he'd lied to him. He put his head back down. '_Prowlllllllllllllllll!_' he yelled at himself mentally.

The door swung open, and Prowl snapped his head up guiltily. Ironhide raised an optic-ridge at him.

Prowl made his wings stay still, but they were inclined to flick up. Ironhide had clearly gotten punched several times and not lightly. His paint and finished had been repaired, but the dents were still evident.

"What are you doing here?" Prowl asked, keeping his tone formal.

"Secondarily, I'm checking up on you." Ironhide said quietly, "Looks like you needed it."

"I did not." Prowl said, but not resentfully. "This _is_ my lunch hour." he added, "I believe I can put my head on my desk if I like."

"And what accounted for the guilty jump when I came in?" Ironhide's tone was so subdued that it made Prowl sad.

"I lied to Ultra Magnus, and I had my head down because I was berating myself for it." He admitted. "You have not turned in your reports from yesterday." He added.

"That was my primary reason for coming in."

"Ah." That explained why Ironhide had said 'secondarily' earlier. "You have them for me, then?"

Ironhide nodded reluctantly. He took the data-pad from subspace and looked down at it. "Auri didn't proofread these, so…" he trailed off and sighed heavily. "They won't be outstanding."

Prowl nodded understandingly.

The reports were going to be not outstanding in more than one way, and Ironhide knew it. He held onto the data-pad that held his reports, looking down at it. It was the content, not the grammar, that pained him.

Prowl didn't push him; he could tell that his former guardian was having a hard time living with himself at the moment. Ironhide shifted, and his fingers tightened on the data-pad; Prowl wondered that the data-pad didn't crumple.

"Ironhide," Prowl said suddenly, "Do you want to read them over again? –before you turn them in?"

Ironhide hesitated.

"I need to go speak with Magnus for a few minutes. You could stay here and watch office for me while I am gone, and you could turn them in when I get back." He offered.

Ironhide nodded. "Alright. We can do that."

"Very well." Prowl said, rising. "Do not touch my 3D Cyber-Sudoku game." He added needlessly as he came around the desk.

"I won't." Ironhide said, and Prowl knew Ironhide _really_ wasn't feeling like himself. Any other time, Ironhide would have had some mock-bossy or teasing comeback for such a command. Prowl's order to not touch his game had been bait for Ironhide to play with, to lighten the mood, and Ironhide didn't have the spark to take it. That saddened Prowl further; he didn't want his friend and old guardian to be that glum.

Prowl paused by Ironhide and rested a sympathetic hand on the other mech's arm for a moment. Then he left to go face Magnus.

Ironhide stood in the silence of Prowl's office, alone, telling himself that he needed to get it together. Really. Prowl didn't put a comforting hand on _anybody_ unless they were absolutely pitiful. And he didn't want to be absolutely pitiful. He had recharged for an hour with Chromia, and then he'd spent the next three hours in agony as he'd written his reports. He felt like he could use a little comfort, but not from Prowl.

He appreciated Prowl's unusual kindness, though. It was very unusual of Prowl and very kind of Prowl to give him a few minutes alone. He needed those minutes. He went and sat down on an extra chair and fingered the edge on the data-pad. The paint was a little cracked in a couple places. He'd gripped it too hard, he realized. He rubbed a finger over it. It would probably be fixed when he got it back. So many, many things needed to be fixed. So many things.

The door opened, and Ironhide looked up. His optics didn't find a monochromatic door-winger, though, and the pure-breed blue optics that his optics met weren't Prowl's.

"Prime." Ironhide said, and he felt that his day had just gotten infinitely worse.


	9. Chapter 9

Hellos! Sorry it's a little shorter than usual… it was either a shorter update or no update, and I figured we'd all be happier with there was an update. ;)

* * *

Chapter 9

Ultra Magnus drummed his fingers on his desk quietly, a slight frown on his face. Prowl's game of 3D Cyber-Sudoku had been pulled up over another window, and the security feed icon had been live on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Prowl had to have been looking at the security before pulling up his game. Prowl wasn't on camera security, though; he had no business watching the security feed, especially not on lunch break.

The quiet drumming stopped.

Magnus blinked at his computer. Prowl was a smart cyber-cookie. Prowl had to have realized that his behavior that morning hadn't been normal, and Prowl knew him well enough to know that he'd think Prowl should be checked on. Prowl had been working through lunch, but he _had been watching for Magnus!_ The over-defensive little sneak!

Magnus made himself stop. He was jumping to conclusions. True, the conclusions seemed quite valid, but all the same, he shouldn't jump to conclusions.

Why would Prowl lie to him, though? Prowl didn't lie to any of the bots. He snuck things past certain types of humans sometimes, but he never lied to Bots.

Magnus tried to move past the thoughts of Prowl, but they stuck, troubling him. He wanted to know why Prowl would lie to him. What had he done to Prowl that Prowl would try to evade him? Did Prowl distrust him in some way?

A troubled frown darkened his expression. He couldn't very well walk into Prowl's office and ask him about it; that would only make Prowl feel threatened. –_More_ threatened, as the case may be; Prowl had to feel threatened if he watching the cameras outside his office.

Magnus puzzled about it for several minutes then told himself to let it go until later. He had some tactics to look over. He reluctantly activated a small, chunky data-pad-like device, keyed a few things in, and then the room filled with a ghost-like holograph of the last place they'd fought with the Cons. He picked up the device's data-pad companion and writing on it, he began adding things to the scene. Con positions in red, Bot positions in blue.

A light knock sounded on the door after a little while.

"Come," Magnus replied, adding another Decepticon to the scene.

Prowl stepped in and looked over the holograph.

"Did you need something?" Magnus asked, hiding his surprise.

Prowl put his fingers into some trees as if he wasn't sure what to think of them. "I need to tell you that I lied." He said, not looking at Magnus, "I was not playing 3CS. I do play it sometimes, but I was not today. I was working while I ate, and I was monitoring the security feed so that you wouldn't catch me at it."

Magnus thought of the human colloquialism 'you could knock me over with a feather.' Then he wondered what to say. Prowl's sudden and very frank, blunt admission was mildly disconcerting.

"I apologize for deceiving you, and I will not do so again." Prowl added, still looking at the little holographic trees in his hand.

"I accept your apology," Magnus said, "But… I would like to know, why did you lie to me?"

"Why." Prowl echoed, still not looking at him. "'Why' has a long, complicated answer that even I am not sure of yet." He said, and Magnus wasn't sure if Prowl was going to leave it at that or add something.

After several moments, Magnus decided that the holograph wasn't helping things. He turned it off, and Prowl's wings flinched slightly.

"Prowl," Magnus said quietly, and then he finally got some optic-contact. Prowl's optics looked troubled. Magnus hesitated then went on, "Why did you feel that you had to… to…" he paused and rethought his words. "Why did you feel a need to guard and defend yourself from me? Have I done something to you?"

Magnus's optics caught a tiny movement of Prowl's wings, a stiffening against movement, and he knew he'd struck a nerve or something. What, he didn't know.

Prowl looked down.

"After I left the lounge the first time," Prowl said quietly, "I realized that my behavior had been slightly erratic, and I concluded that you would be concerned that there could be issues. All the bots who generally interact with me are occupied for the day, so I knew that you would take this responsibility on yourself." Prowl paused. Then he made himself meet Magnus's optics, as uncomfortable as it was. "I desperately want things to fine. Having you check on me is a clear indicator that things are _not_ fine; you generally do not go out of you way to interact with me, and now you are. I wanted you to think things were fine and go away, so things would not seem so different. Everything seems to be deviating from normal, and I did not you to deviate from normal as well." His wings gave a slight flick. "As if there was a 'normal.'" He added, and Magnus thought he heard a hint of bitterness in his tone.

Magnus had no idea how to respond, or even what to think; the sheer degree to which Prowl had opened up was almost appalling. He looked down. The amount of vulnerability Prowl had shown was… breathtaking. Magnus had never seen this side of Prowl. He'd seen cold, calculating Prowl. He'd seen displeased Prowl. He'd seen enraged Prowl once. (That had been chilling). He usually only saw firm, calm Prowl who was unshakable, even by the twins. He'd not even realized that there _was_ such a thing as vulnerable Prowl. But, here he was, and he was waiting for some response.

Magnus shifted. It was hard to figure out how to respond. Suddenly, he realized how hard it must have been for Prowl to open up and show his vulnerability. He looked up and met Prowl's optics and saw uncertainty in them.

He stood slowly. "Thank-you," He told Prowl, his deep respect showing in his tone, "…For explaining. And for trusting me enough to explain as you did."

Most of the uncertainty left Prowl's optics then, and he nodded. "You are trustworthy, Magnus." He said.

This almost made Magnus smile.

"If you have no further questions, I do need to get back to my office. I left Ironhide waiting."

"No further questions." Magnus said, feeling like he understood Prowl better now than before. "Except, would you let Ironhide know that I would like a word with him?"

A slight look of pain crossed Prowl's face. "Ironhide does not need a word from you." He said very quietly, almost defensively, his expression returning to one of neutrality. "He's had enough words."

Magnus shook his head quickly. "Not that sort of word." He said, "I _know_ he's had enough reprimand and rebuke for what he did and said. I just wanted to… let him know that… I… ngh… Something… something… uh, sympathetic."

Prowl didn't look entirely convinced. "You may come back with me and tell him while I file his paperwork." He said, "I am certain he is going to be busy this afternoon."

Prowl really wasn't giving him a choice, so he nodded. "Alright." He said.

OoOoOoOoO

"Hello, Ironhide." Optimus said, watching his long-time friend and loyal officer lower his optics and get to his pedes. "Prowl is not in?"

"No, sir." Ironhide replied quietly, "He stepped out for a few minutes. He is on lunch break… he has a later lunch hour."

Optimus nodded. The officers had staggered lunch hours; some had earlier lunches while others had later ones. It kept the work flow from slowing as much, and it kept bases covered at all times. Optimus was on the earlier lunch shift; he'd just come back from a particularly nice… lunch.

He'd met Elita at the communications center, and they'd walked back to their quarters. Elita had told him about how it had gone in the brig as they'd walked. There wasn't a doubt in Optimus's processor now that Ironhide was sorry for what he'd said and done, but he still felt like chewing him up just a little. He couldn't, though, not after telling Elita that he would stay out of it.

He looked at Ironhide carefully. Ironhide still had his optics down, and his body was braced a little, but not proudly; it was the bracing of a body that knew a beating was coming, the shoulders hunched ever so slightly. Optimus felt his desire to have at Ironhide melt away. Separation from Chromia during a hard time, hours alone with his conscience, having to write a detailed report about his misdeeds… all these things were hard punishment to Ironhide; Optimus knew that well. And Chromia would have probably given him a piece of her mind when they got back together, and he knew Chromia wasn't gentle when she let a mech know what she thought.

Optimus paused then took a step towards Ironhide as his optics zeroed in on the black mech's jaw. There were dents from fists. Oh, Chromia…

Optimus looked away. Chromia must have suffered a great deal while separated from Ironhide, he realized, and the thought saddened him. Chromia always played tough, and he knew it was a front; it pained him, though, that she trusted almost no one. He felt most times that she didn't even trust him. He knew she trusted him as a Prime, but not as a mech or as a friend. They were friends to a certain degree, but she was guarded. Ironhide was the only mech she trusted.

"Will you say something?" Ironhide's tone was bitter, almost tortured as he asked, nearly snapped, the question.

Optimus looked back to Ironhide and saw that his frame was close to shaking with tension, fists clenched frustration. His spark twisted with pain at the sight of his friend's pain.

"I told Elita I would let her handle it and that I would not interfere-"

"DAMMIT!" Ironhide roared at him, startling him.

"-Unless you brought it up." Optimus finished, his optics wide.

Ironhide ground his jaws. "I'm bringing it up." He said grimly, his optics haunted. He turned away. "I shouldn't ha' yelled." He said added more quietly.

"It's alright." Optimus said, "I understand."

Ironhide looked chafed. "EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS!" he ranted, "I fight Elita's authority, curse at her, hurt her emotionally, leave her with a distraught femme-ling and a… a Chromia –NOT the easiest things to take care of, and Every-_fragging_-Body _Glitching_ Understands! EVEN YOU! Hell, if you had cursed at Chromia and treated her like that, I would have slammed you into the pavement and slagged you, Prime or NOT!"

Optimus feel almost as if Ironhide slammed him into a concrete wall; he felt slightly stunned, rather pained. He raised an optic-ridge, though, almost inclined to be mildly amused the mech's last words.

"WHAT?"

"Did you stop to consider that if I had cursed at Chromia and treated her like that, that _she_ would have slammed me into the pavement and creamed me before you'd even heard about it?" Optimus asked, keeping his face serious. A smile slipped into his tone, though, and Ironhide heard it. Ironhide heard the smile.

He opened his mouth to object, but then he stopped. Prime was right; really, Chromia wouldn't have let anyone cross her. He looked down as he felt the impulse to chuckle ruefully at his pathetically disorganized argument. "Alright," he said, relenting, "Bad example."

He sighed and looked at Prime again. "I don't know where I was going with that." he admitted.

An understanding half-smile touched Optimus's expression. "I think your point was that you feel pretty horrible about your actions and that you think you deserve worse than you got. You feel like you haven't answered for your misdeeds and the guilt is eating you up."

"Yes…" Ironhide replied slowly. Then he looked mildly disconcerted. "I conveyed all that?"

Optimus nodded. "In so many words." He said, "And I know how you are. You've been my friend for quite a few eons now."

"Even friends chew each other up at times." Ironhide growled quietly, looking away.

"Is that what you're looking for?" Optimus asked, looking curious, "You want me to chew you up after you apologized and Elita forgave?"

Ironhide his mouth to respond then paused, started to speak then hesitated. "I… don't know." He said, looking a little aggravated with himself. "Not when you put it that way."

"What way do you see it, Ironhide?"

"I see it as I was rotten to your sparkmate."

"Ah. Personal, not business."

Ironhide nodded.

"Well…" Optimus tilted his head to the side a little, "Personally, this morning I was very inclined to chew you up quite badly. Elita and I talked, though, and she convinced me that I shouldn't, citing how hard you take your mistakes and how she knew you wouldn't intentionally hurt her. She's a wise and insightful femme, and I trust her judgment. I also know and trust my friend, Ironhide."

Ironhide groaned softly.

"If you want my forgiveness, you have it." Optimus added.

"Thank-you…" Ironhide murmured in a way that told Optimus that that wasn't exactly what he was looking for, not yet anyway.

Optimus shook his head and went over to Ironhide.

"Ironhide," he said, and the mech met his optics. He cuffed Ironhide lightly but firmly. "Get over it." He said with mock-sternness, "Alright?"

Ironhide nodded. "Alright." He said, half a smile in his tone.

"You are done being chewed up now." Optimus told him, tapping him on the chest, good humor in his tone.

"By you." Ironhide said, "I'm fairly certain Ratchet will have a few things to say to me about Auri's psychological well-being in relation to me not being supportive of her in a troubling time. And that's a lecture I really don't look forward to."

"You probably won't get it if Auri's present."

"That's true," Ironhide said, looking thoughtful. "And she will be. Thank-you for mentioning that. I dread going to Med-Bay a little less now."

"I could go with you if you wanted." Optimus told him, "I need to visit anyway."

Ironhide started to answer, but he paused as the door opened. Prowl came partway in, saw the two mechs then turned swiftly to get out of there as fast as he could. The door, falling closed, caught him in the wing then bounced off it, and he tripped Ultra Magnus pretty hard; Magnus stumbled, grabbed for the door jamb to stabilize himself, missed, and went down, inadvertently taking Prowl down with him. They landed with quite a solid crash in the doorway, Prowl landing mostly on top of Magnus. The door came back and smacked into Prowl.

"Ngh!" Prowl grunted in discomfort.

Ironhide started chuckling. The two most staid and dignified of Prime's officers had just tripped over each other and landed in a _most_ undignified pile.

"Not funny." Prowl snapped, removing himself from Magnus indignantly as Magnus shifted. Magnus got up cautiously. Prowl looked very mad, but there was nobody he could be mad at; that trip had been his fault.

Ironhide repressed his chuckles, but his shoulders still shook a little, and he had to put a hand over his mouth to hide his grin.

"What…?" Magus hesitated, "What was that about?" he asked, venturing to rub his elbow.

Prowl eyed Ironhide then Optimus. "I…" he looked to Magnus, "M… err… reflexes." He said. "When I find myself in a room with a mech and the mech whose sparkmate he hasn't treated properly, my automatic response is to leave immediately."

"See?" Ironhide said to Optimus with a barely hidden smirk, "Even Prowl thinks you'd be taking me down."

"Have you often found yourself is such a room?" Magnus asked, staring at Prowl in amazement.

"No, fortunately." Prowl said, "But once was enough."

Ironhide rubbed his mouth.

"Well." Magnus said. "I've learned something new." He commented, and Prowl wondered what that was supposed to mean.

"Ironhide and I were just talking about visiting Med-Bay," Optimus said, "While I waited for you to return, Prowl. I have these statistics that you requested." He held out a data-pad.

Prowl approached and took it almost eagerly. Anything to move on was greatly appreciated. "Thank-you." He said, "These will be most useful." He took them to his desk and sat down. "Ironhide, I will take your reports now."

Ironhide went over to the desk and handed the data-pad over. "I'll see you later." He said.

"Magnus has something to say to you before you leave." Prowl said without missing a beat.

"Nnnh." Ironhide turned to Magnus. "Yes?" he said reluctantly.

"I just wanted to say… um…" Magnus faltered. It wasn't easy expressing gentler feelings. "To say… uh, I know it's hard… um, for you guys, and uh… my thoughts are with you. If I can help somehow… I… uh… let me know." He found Ironhide looking at him with new respect and a little dumbfounded-ness.

"Well, thank-you, Magnus." Ironhide sounded oddly touched. "I'll let you know." He said sincerely.

Magnus nodded then headed for the door. He left, and Ironhide looked over at Prime.

"If you have no other business to conduct," Prowl said, "Could you let me have my lunch break in peace?"

"Sorry about that, Prowl." Ironhide said, "I'll see you later."

Prowl nodded to him and saluted politely to Optimus when the Prime nodded his farewell.

The door shut behind them, and Prowl looked at the security feed, watching until the two were out of hearing-through-the-door range.

"OW, MY WINGS!" Prowl bellowed. He huffed hard once. Then he felt better. His wings weren't really damaged; they just smarted a little and felt temporarily abused. They'd be fine in a few hours. He closed the security camera feed, took up his Energon, and focused on his 3D Cyber Sudoku. There wasn't a great deal of time left in his lunch hour, and for that he was most grateful.

OoOoOoOoO

"What are you doing now?" Auri asked Ratchet from her seat on Soundwave's berth.

Ratchet counted to ten in his head, too quickly. He couldn't change tasks without getting that question. It had been going on all morning, and it was starting to tax his patience.

"Look, Auri," he said, "Most younglings your age lurk around scruffy pubs, dance clubs, and outside bar doors, not Med-Bays."

"We don't have any of those, Ratchet." Auri said, giving him a reproachful look.

Ratchet sighed and ran a hand across his helm. He got up and went over to the young femme. "I'm sorry." He said, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. "I'm starting to get irritated by all your questions," he explained, "I need you to not ask any more questions." He paused as Auri's optics filled with anxious dismay, "Hang on," he said as she opened her mouth to protest,

"But-"

"Sh. Listen to me."

She looked reproachfully at him as she closed her mouth. Her lower lip quivered a little.

"Listen," Ratchet said gently, "I need you to stop asking questions every time I move, and I promise that in return I will tell you if I do anything regarding Soundwave. Can we make that deal?"

Auri hesitated a second then nodded. She trusted him.

"So, no more questions from you," Ratchet said.

She nodded, "And you'll tell me if you do something related to Soundwave."

Ratchet nodded seriously. "I will." He promised. He leaned over and kissed the top of her helm. "He'll probably be alright, Little One." He said, "He'll have a long recovery, but I think he'll be fine."

"Really?"

"Really." He nodded. Then he went back to his computer.

Auri shifted and sat facing Soundwave's face. She sat so still that, after a while, Ratchet actually forgot that she was there. He worked in silence, undisturbed, for quite a bit.

Then he nearly jumped out of his chair in alarm when Auri suddenly jumped off the berth and ran to the doorway with a high-pitched squeal.

"Ironhiiiiide!" She shrieked, throwing herself at her guardian almost frantically as he came in. "Ironhide! Ironnnnhide! Irrrrrronhide!"

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm here." He told her gently, dropping to one knee and cradling her as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She whimpered and sobbed, her little body heaving as her cooling system worked hard to keep her from overheating. "Shhhh… calm down. Shhh, shhh…" Ironhide rubbed her back gently. He could feel that she was trembling, hard. He rose in mild alarm, picking her up, and he carried her over a spare berth. He sat and held her, shifting her so he could rub her neck and shoulders.

"You need to calm down, Auri." He told her gently, his spark wrenching with pain at her anguish. "C'mon. You'll get sick if you keep this up. I'm here now, and I won't leave for several hours."

She whimpered a little more, but Ironhide kept rubbing her neck gently, occasionally stroking her wings, and slowly she started to calm down. Then she calmed down completely and sighed a final sounding little sigh and looked up at Ironhide.

He regarded her gently, and she shifted to cuddle against him comfortably, resting her head against his shoulder instead of burying her face against his neck.

"I love you." He whispered softly.

She nodded. Pause. Then she sat up, looking a little mad. "Then why weren't you there for me last night when I needed you?!" She demanded unhappily, and a little fist slammed upwards into his ribs, right exactly where Chromia had hit him that morning… right exactly where Chromia always hit him when she got mad and went for his ribs. Ironhide didn't see it, but Ratchet smirked.

Ironhide held back a groan. "Auri, sparklette, I… I overreacted and got myself thrown in the brig."

"Yeah?" she asked in a soft little voice.

He nodded. "Yeah… I… I got mad when I saw Soundwave because he'd tried to kidnap you a couple times. I didn't want to help, and… I… I gave Elita some pretty ugly backtalk. It was wrong of me. But, that's how I reacted because I saw him as a threat to you."

Auri cuddled against him again. "That's what Magnus said." She said, comforted.

"Magnus talked?" Ironhide felt dread rising up.

"I wanted to know why you 'n' Chromia hadn't come, and he said that." Auri explained, "He wasn't gabbing. He wouldn't do that."

"Aw, yeah, you're right." Ironhide replied softly, and Magnus's words from earlier come back to mind. Magnus really did have a spark in him, he realized. Magnus was never _not_ nice, but he didn't usually come off as a gentle, caring bot.

Auri didn't say anything more, so Ironhide just held her in silence, content to just be with her. They stayed like this for a little while; then Ironhide wondered if Auri wanted to talk. She usually talked at will, needing little to no encouragement, but Ironhide wondered if she might feel reticent about talking now, with Soundwave being… being who he was. Or maybe she just didn't feel like talking. Ironhide could try and find out, though.

He nudged her a little. "Did I miss much while I was in the brig?" he asked. She could answer that any number of ways. She could reply briefly if she didn't want to talk, or she could talk some, or Ironhide could end up listening to a detailed account of the past how-many hours.

"You rather missed a lot." Auri said, shifting so she could talk better. Then she told him about waking up on Prowl's lap the day before and how startling it had been. "I didn't even remember getting there or anything. I think my whole system messed up before I went into recharge and glitched out my recent memories or something like that. I had a very, very strange dream, though, that Prowl was singing."

Ironhide saw Ratchet look over swiftly, but Auri didn't; she was facing away from him.

"It was a beautiful song." She said softly, "But a little sad… the melody was sad. It was so pretty…" she trailed off, looking thoughtful. Then she started to sing the tune softly. "La, da la-ah, nah-ah-ah la; La-da, la-da, de da de; de da de da La-ah lo… I can't remember the words, though." She seemed a little disappointed about that.

"Maybe you could think of your own words." Ironhide suggested, smiling gently to hide the fact that his spark felt like it was breaking. He'd heard Prowl sing that song back on Cybertron when Bee had been tiny, and gauging from Ratchet's earlier response, Prowl singing hadn't been merely a dream.

"Maybe I could…" she didn't seem sure, though.

"What else did I miss?" Ironhide asked, encouraging her to move on, _needing_ her to move on. She took this bait and talked about the rest of her day. She seemed to be content; understandably, she wasn't chipper, but she didn't seem unhappy.

Ratchet looked back at his computer screens. The one that showed the read-out on Soundwave showed a tiny nuance in his status. Ratchet looked at it more closely then paused. The Con was in quarter-stasis, medically induced, and it was much like deep recharge; his body and systems could repair, but he couldn't think consciously or sense much. Evidently, though, he could sense Auri's voice on some level, and it was causing a tiny, positive reaction in his spark signature. Her talking was causing his spark reading to strengthen. Ratchet knew that he would tell her that her voice made Soundwave feel better, but he decided he'd wait until after Ironhide had left, not wanting to risk causing any trouble. Ironhide seemed fairly level-headed at present, though.

Ratchet started to tune out Auri's talking but changed his mind. She was an observant little thing, more observant than she realized, and she could give anyway information without realizing it. Ratchet kept half his attention on the research he was looking through and half his attention on Auri's conversation. Then he turned his complete attention to her words when she began to tell Ironhide about that morning, smiling when she told Ironhide about the debate about him sending the two door-wingers for Energon.

"Poor Magnus was all confused up at us." Auri said with a certain amount of amusement. "He wasn't sure _what_ we were doing."

"I would have liked to see that." Ironhide said, smiling a little at the thought. Then, several minutes later, he grinned when Auri told him about convincing Prowl that he should let her win sometimes. "Well done, my femme-ling." He said, his tone warm and praising as he snuggled her a little extra.

After a little more talk, First Aid put his head in the room. "Someone here to see you, Auri." He said,

"Chromia-?" Auri asked eagerly as she scrambled off Ironhide's lap, "Is it Chromia?" she asked, scampering over to the door. Her smile faded when First Aid didn't smile or nod or say 'yes,' and she went past him with a upwards questioning look.

"Who is it?" Ironhide asked him. Then he realized that he was the target of an unfriendly look.

First Aid opened his mouth to reply coldly, but Auri squealed from the other room. "First Aid! You mean old silly, it IS Chromia! Miiiiiaaaaah-!"

"You should have answered her." Ironhide reproached the younger mech.

"Sorry." He said with unusual curtness. "I was preoccupied with my thoughts." This explanation was accompanied by a dark meaningful look.

Ironhide looked over at Ratchet, and saw that the chief medical officer had his surgery face on. Ironhide suddenly realized that he was alone; Auri was no longer present, and that meant they were going to chew him out _good_. He braced himself, reminding himself that it wouldn't be anything he didn't have coming. He could take it.


	10. Chapter 10, Chromia Quality Time

Chapter 10

**Chromia Quality Time **

"Miiiiiaaaaah-!" Auri burst through the reception room doors with a squeal of welcome, dashing to Chromia and throwing her arms around her. "I missed you!"

Chromia knelt and put her arms around her femme-ling, hugging her with unusual tenderness.

"I missed you." Auri said again, snuggling against her femme guardian, hiding her face against her neck.

"I'm sorry wasn't around when you needed me." Chromia said quietly. She couldn't count how many times she'd needed someone as a youngling and no one had been there for her. "Life's rough, but it's double rough when…" she faltered as the trilph craving hit her, "When…" she wished she'd never even heard of the drug.

"It's okay, Chromia." Auri told her in a comforting tone, "You mean a whole lot to me, and I understand if staying away from Med-Bay yesterday was better for you. I want what's best for you. I wouldn't want you to be upset or suffer because you came."

The guilt rolled over Chromia and made her feel like puking. Little Auri was standing there and being brave, putting her first, and she, Chromia, had skipped out on her yesterday because she'd been weak and couldn't deal with herself.

"You wanna know something funny?" Auri asked coaxingly, "About Magnus?"

Chromia felt worse. She'd supposed to be comforting Auri, but here Auri was trying to cheer her up. The little femme knew Chromia always liked a good laugh at any of the superior officers.

"What about Magnus?" Chromia asked, managing to not sound as nauseous as she felt. She sat on the floor, and Auri sat next to her, cuddling.

"Prowl and I had a little debate practice while we had breakfast, but Magnus didn't know _what_ we were doing. Our words sounded like an argument, but our actions didn't. He lifted up his hand, and was like, 'Um, just a question?' He was just so confused!"

"Oh, Magnus." Chromia said. She thought her chuckle sounded forced, but Auri didn't seem to notice.

"And Prowl had made me a yummy Energon mix. I think if he wasn't Second in Command, he should work at the pub."

Chromia couldn't help but smile at that. "He'd be good at it."

"If he didn't argue with the customers." Auri added.

Chromia nodded. They sat in companionable silence then for a little while, Auri a warm little cuddly thing in Chromia's arms. Chromia ended up galaxies away in her thoughts, thinking about family and not-being-there. She'd lost track of how many times her familial assemblage had moved by the time she was Auri's age. – The word "family" didn't seem to fit very well so she always thought of it as a "familial assemblage." She would come home from school or somewhere every day and the dwelling place was usually empty. She'd call '_I'm home_' every time, and listen to the echo. Then she'd gone through a phase where she would call, '_I'm home, as if anyone cares._' After a while, though, she had quit calling and would just mutter, '_I'm home, whatever_' or '_I'm home, what the hell_' or something equally sarcastic. That, acutalyy, was quite a while before she'd ever reached Auri's age. At Auri's age… Where had she been at Auri's age?

_"Hey, isn' this kin'a rough neighborhood f' a femme like yh'?" _

_Chromia turned and eyed the young mech's body. He was her age. He was fairly heavily built, but he was a just tiny bit slighter than the mechs she liked to eye at school… on the odd occasions she went to school. She never hooked up with mechs, but she liked to look at them. _

_"What's that supposed to mean, 'a femme like you'; yah don' even know me." She retorted. Never talk nicely to anybody you've never met before was the first rule. She kicked carelessly at a bit of rubbish to tell him she wasn't interested. She liked his lilting accent, though. She'd like to hear him talk more. _

_He smiled, an amiable smile, and it was then that she noticed that he had purple optics. _

_ "No, I don' know yh'," he said, "But I'd like t'." Oddly enough, it didn't sound like he was hitting on her; something in his tone hinted that he just wanted a little friendship. And the lilt was charming. _

_"You new in town or something?" She asked, tossing her head dismissively. _

_"Compared t' some. I've been here half year. Yh'?" _

_"Dang, mech. You don't know anything." She decided to walk some, to see if he'd follow. _

_"That's why I'm starting school nex' week." He said, following a little. _

_"Which school?" she asked, keeping him engaged. Now they were walking together. She liked how he walked._

_He named the school that she attended from time to time. She paused then stopped and looked at him again, looking at his face closely this time. He was good-looking, and there was something candid and honest about him. He seemed confident and secure, but he didn't come off too cocky. Cocky herself, she didn't like it when others were. _

_"I go there." She said, looking at his purple optics. "They don't really like lavvies." Lavvies was short for 'lavender,' slang for a purple-opticked bot. It was mildly derogative, but everybody used it. _

_He didn't flinch at the word but smirked self-deprecatingly. "They didn' like them at m' last school either."_

_ "Get beat up much?" she asked off-handedly, starting to walk again. _

_"Nope. I spent t' much time in detention f' defending myself f' th' sparklets t' hit me much." _

_Chromia snorted. "Sissy school."_

_"Differen' here?"_

_"Hell, yeah. The staff'll bust your aft and send you back to class. We don't have detention around here until you try to knife someone or beat them unconscious."_

_"I'll just ha' t' remember t' pack a couple knives then." He said as if he was discussing napkins for his lunch. "An' m' knuckle guards." _

_Chromia snorted derisively to hide her amused delight. "Don't try bringing a gun." _

_"I don' have one yet." _

_"You planning to get one?" _

_"Some day." He said, looking thoughtfully at her. "It is a red-optic dominant school?" _

_She shrugged. "Half 'n' half, about." She said, "No one gives a glitch if you've got blue optics or red optics, basically. There are clicks, of course, and they go by optics, but most of the time optic color doesn't matter if it's a primary color. The few yellows do fine. It's just the mixed ones that get tormented." _

_"So…?" his hand moved towards her face. _

_She turned it away. "None of your business." _

_"If yh've got a boyfriend who hits yh, yh need t' get help." There was a seriousness in his tone that sent a chill up her spine. _

_"I don't have a boyfriend."_

_He was quiet. _

_"Seriously, I don't." she said, and it was true. _

_"Some mech's missing out then." He said, and it was just a complement, no hitting on. _

_"Don't you have something else to be doing? Chores or something?" _

_"Mm, now that yh' mention it, I was supposed t' wash the windows on orr house." He said, rubbing his neck. He paused. "Yh wanna help? I c'n guarantee snacks afterwards."_

_She raised an optic-ridge. She didn't have anything to lose. "Sure."_

"Chromia?" Auri asked,

"Yeah-?" Chromia focused on the femme-ling, feeling like she'd been gone a long time. The visuals of the scummy area were so vivid in her mind that the pristine Med-Bay seemed almost strange.

"Can we go to the playground?" Auri asked, "I think it would fun." She sounded a little vulnerable.

Chromia looked at her gently and nodded. She'd never been Auri's age, she realized. Getting up, she pulled Auri up gently, and smiled when Auri held onto her hand.

"Should I tell Ratchet I'm leaving?" Auri asked, "I think maybe I should…"

"Go ahead." Chromia told her. She watched as Auri went through the doors then let her thoughts slip back to the mech she'd met so long ago. She'd actually had fun that afternoon that she met him; she remembered laughing, _really_ laughing, for the first time in months with him. And the promised snacks had been marvelous, better than what she usually had for dinner. Then the two of them had sprawled on the couch and talked for several hours. They'd been friends until she'd left town.

"Okay," Auri said, skipping through the doors to take Chromia's hand again. "I think Ironhide was lecturing Ratchet and First Aid."

Chromia raised an optic-ridge. "Maybe." She said speculatively, and the subject dropped. Auri talked about her morning as they walked to the 'playground,' telling Chromia about the virus, and breakfasting with Prowl, and helping First Aid out with his reports. It was all lighthearted, Chromia noticed.

They got out of the city and left the road after a little bit, then walked up the path to the playground. It was the metal frame of a building that had never been completed. Bee had gotten Hoist to help him hang a swing from it when he'd found out that Auri had never gotten to swing on a swing. Then a couple more swings had been added, and Wheeljack had happily added a force-field slide at one end of the frame.

Auri got on a swing and kicked her feet, smiling at Chromia.

Chromia sat on one of the horizontal beams, watching as Auri got her swing going. It was a distraction, she knew. Only, she wondered, was the distraction for Auri or for _her?_ Auri always tried to please. There was nothing wrong with trying to be nice, Chromia knew, but being too nice could get a femme in a stinking lot of trouble. That's why she was never very nice to any mech beside Ironhide.

"Watch me jump 'n' flip." Auri called,

"Careful," Chromia called back despite knowing that Auri had it down and could do it quite well. Auri jumped and flipped neatly, landing on her feet like a little gymnast. She posed for a second and then came over to Chromia and climbed up and sat beside her.

Chromia put an arm around the femme-ling. She doubted herself, mainly her candidacy for guardianship. She was a good guardian most of the time, but Ironhide was much better. Plus, now that they were in a crisis of sorts, Auri was being the comforting one. Auri knew what to say to comfort those around her. Chromia didn't. She never did, and she never had. She'd always said, 'tough it out,' or something of that nature to anybody who'd tried to get sympathy from her. She could dispense a little sympathy Elita's way and had an occasional bit for Flareup, but nothing like what Auri might need.

She could try, though. She could at least listen. Then she could intercom Ironhide for help if she got stumped. She hesitated. "Do you want to talk about… something?" she ventured to ask.

Auri shrugged reluctantly. She didn't want Chromia to get upset.

"Are… are you scared?" Chromia asked softly.

Auri looked up at her. "A little…" she admitted, her lip starting to quiver. "I don't want you and Ironhide to… to… to love me less because it was Soundwave." She managed to keep the whimper from her tone, but her optics filled with tears.

"Oh… Auri, sparkling…" Chromia felt like someone had punched Auri, "No." she said, working to keep a defensive tone out of her voice. "No." she said firmly, "Neither Hide nor me would _ever_ love you less because Soundwave looked after you when you were a little sparkling."

"Are you sure?" Auri asked.

"Absolutely." Chromia said, "Besides, it's not like you crawled out into the street and asked the first D'con you saw to be your guardian. You were a helpless little thing, and he happened by and picked you up. It coulda been any other Con or any other sparkling."

Auri nodded slowly.

"We were supportive when we found out that a Decepticon had been you guardian." Chromia reminded her softly, "Remember? That's not changed. We just have a name for him now."

"And an identity." Auri said in a little voice. "I've read about things he's done. He has a reputation of… of…" she trailed off and whimpered, "'Mia, it's all _so_ confusing!"

Chromia paused. "'So confusing' as in, 'How does an evil war criminal tenderly look after a tiny sparkling?'" she asked, and she knew it was Auri's question by the way the femme-ling nodded quickly and looked up questioningly.

Chromia paused. That was a good question. Now she needed to come up with a good answer. Ha!

"It is pretty confusing." She said sympathetically, gently stroking Auri's side in a way that relaxed the young femme. "Maybe he can explain it when he wakes up, eh?"

"Guess so…" Auri said softly. "I wish I knew when he would wake, though."

"I'm sure ol' Ratchet will tell you once he has an estimate."

Auri nodded. "He will." She said, and she seemed to be content.

Chromia was slightly pleased with herself. She had brought up a topic she thought she couldn't handle, but she _had_ handled it and made it through. She'd settled one of Auri's concerns and comforted her to some degree. It was good progress.

She felt emotionally tired now, though. She needed some… some… –time in the workout room. She needed to look after Auri's needs right now, though. She'd done well; now wasn't the time to give up. She fought back the haze of trilph cravings that were trying to cloud up her mind and looked at the young femme. "Anything you want to do right now?" she asked.

Auri looked up at her thoughtfully. "Mm…" she looked like she was trying to guess something.

"'_You,'_ I said 'you.'" Chromia told her, "Not what _I_ want to do."

"Well…" Auri looked doubtful, "What I really want to do is hit the racetrack."

"We can do that."

One of Auri's optic-ridges went up. "I've never seen you _race_ on the track."

"Uhh… Elita and I race sometimes." She said, "We don't usually invite any audience, but we do race from time to time."

Auri didn't look entirely convinced.

"I'll race you. Then you'll see." Chromia said.

"Okay. No bets, though." Auri said, smiling as she climbed off the beam.

"Oh, hey now," Chromia said, starting to grin as she jumped off the beam, "Last time we made a bet, you ended up having to kiss the next mech who entered the room and that happened to be Prowl."

"Exactly." Auri said, looking like she was fighting a blush.

"You don't wanna kiss Prowl again?" Chromia teased as they sauntered away from the playground.

Auri spluttered a bit. "It wouldn't be appropriate." She finally managed to say. "He wouldn't like it anyway."

"Huh! Never met a mech who didn't like a kiss." Chromia half-drawled, smirking.

Auri shot a dismayed look the other way. She seriously needed her mech-crazy femme-guardian to get off the subject of her and Prowl.

"Well, who was the first mech you kissed?" Auri asked then blinked at herself. She should have thought twice before speaking that time, but she hadn't.

"Ummm…" Chromia frowned slightly, "Who _I_ kissed, or who I let kiss me?"

"Who _you_ kissed." Auri said, optics widening at the thought of Chromia letting anybody kissing her. Chromia didn't let _nobody_ do _nothing_ to her. (Triple negatives for emphasis).

"A mech from my high-school." Chromia said. Then she repressed a bit of a smile. "It was a rough school, and we always had each others' backs. He was an A-plus scholar, and I got C's when I didn't get D's. Bots harassed him because he had purple optics, and they harassed me because I had a chip on my shoulder. He didn't look for any fights, but he rarely ran from them, and he usually won them. Good naturedly. And I helped. We made a good team."

"Why did you two break up then?"

"We weren't romantic. And things in my exact neighborhood were rather bad, so I decided to leave. He tried to talk me into staying and finishing school, but I was set, and he understood. I kissed him good-bye."

Auri was quiet for a few steps. "Did you ever see him again?" She sounded almost wistful. That was something that always concerned her: seeing someone again.

"Yeah." Chromia said quietly. "We met again sometime after the war was on. He tried to convince me to join the Autobot forces. He'd joined them and was climbing ranks. He couldn't convince me that I'd do well, though; I was still too headstrong and rebellious. Even recruiters looked away when I eyed them in the street. They knew I wouldn't listen."

"You listened to Elita later, though." Auri said confidently.

"Yep. After I'd nearly been beat to death in the street after nearly dying after nearly getting killed."

"You're lucky to be alive." Auri said, grinning up at her.

"Got that right."

"You're special." Auri told her lovingly.

"Maybe, but saying that won't keep me from licking your little behind on this track." Chromia sidestepped the sentiment, motioning to the track that they'd come to.

"Huh!" Auri tossed her head, "The only thing you'll be doing is eating my dust." She'd learned by example to trash-talk (albeit mildly) her opponent. She grinned happily.

"You wanna put your money where your mouth is?" Chromia challenged.

"No-oh." Auri dragged the negative out, "I know better than to bet against you."

"S-oh. You mean to say you know I'm gonna beat you." Chromia was grinning.

Auri paused. She had Chromia back to normal now, all bragging and talking it up like she was everything in competition. Chromia always enjoyed things more if there was a bet on. She almost always won her bets, and she enjoyed that immensely. Auri hadn't ever seen her race, though, and she didn't seem like a racer. And Auri was pretty good at racing, so she thought. She had a decent chance.

"I'm saying nothing of the sort." Auri said, "You're on."

"Done!" Chromia said, smirking, "Loser kisses Prowl."

Auri found herself staring at the grass in the field. Of all the things…!

"Ready?" Chromia said, placing one foot before the other and crouching a little.

Auri took her place on the track. "Set." she said, mirroring Chromia's stance. They would drop into car mode as part of the race.

"GO!"

Auri transformed quickly, but Chromia was faster when it came to transforming. Chromia was already blasting down the track when Auri's tires hit the pavement.

Auri stepped on it hard. She had a bit to go to catch up with Chromia. Those several seconds had really counted. She realized then, that she had no idea how Chromia raced. She knew basically how the twins and Mirage and Blurr raced. She raced with those mechs and learned from them. She could never beat Blurr, but Mirage and the twins sometimes let her beat them. Sunny raced dirty. Sides raced sneaky, as did Mirage. Blurr coached her and then left her in the dust… she never got close to beating Blurr; he'd been a professional racer before the war.

Chromia would probably race dirty, Auri decided. That was how she fought. _How_ dirty would she race, though? Maybe she would race nice because she was racing to please Auri? Auri tossed that idea aside quickly with a smirk. She knew better. She loved Chromia immensely, and Chromia loved her dearly, but she knew Chromia wouldn't play nice.

::How's the dust?:: Chromia teased over the intercom.

Auri smiled inwardly but didn't reply. Intercom trash-talk was the tip of the racing-dirty iceberg. This was kind of early to be starting that, so she figured that Chromia was going to lay it on thick.

::Too choked up on dust to answer that?:: Chromia taunted cheerfully.

::Nope. I was just busy configuring data on just how many ways you're gonna lose.:: Auri sent back flippantly.

::Ah! So that's why you're poking along back there. Step it up, sparkling, and focus; you're trying to race a big girl here.::

::Well, I hope big girls don't cry when they get beaten. That would be sad.:: After sending that message, Auri giggled to herself. Their words sounded so unkind, but they didn't mean them at all.

::Eh, not quite as sad as seeing a sparkling sniffling over her loses. But it's okay; I brought some tissues.::

::Good. You'll need them when you're crying over _your_ losses.:: Auri grinned. She was doing fairly well with her bantering, she thought.

::Hah!:: there was something especially triumphant about that 'hah,' and Auri wondered why for about three seconds. Then the track speaker system buzzed into life.

Chromia whooped with glee. Rhianna's "Shut-Up and Drive" came blaring over the system.

Auri had mixed feelings about that. The mechs had never done that. She'd just have to tune it out so it wouldn't become a distraction.

After a mile, a fraction of a minute, Auri had to admit to herself that it was hard to focus; too many things were going on. The music. The fact that she didn't know what Chromia was going to do when she caught up to her. That fact that she didn't know what _she_ was going to do when she caught up with Chromia. The fact that she was going to have to kiss Prowl when she lost. He was going to be displeased with her for that. Auri almost slowed as another thought hit her processor. Chromia had said "_Loser kisses Prowl_'; that meant… that meant that if _Chromia_ lost, then _Chromia_ would have to kiss Prowl. Horrors! Better Chromia than her, though.

Auri accelerated a little and begin recalling evasive maneuvers that Prowl had taught her. She had a feeling that she was going to need them when she caught Chromia. She zipped side to side a little, preparing. Chromia mirrored her movements ahead. 'Mia was watching her. Nothing ever got past that femme.

::Heyyyyy!Iknow it'sa lil late, but can Ijoin?:: a mech asked over the comm., open to both of the femmes.

Auri tilted a mirror and saw Blurr flying towards her and Chromia.

::ShurrBlurr.:: Chromia said cheekily over the comm..

Auri wondered briefly how Chromia and Blurr would get along on the racetrack. Then she accelerated a little; she was close to catching Chromia. She decided it would be better to test the waters before she had Blurr splashing with them. And Blurr would be coming up on them before too long. He'd not started at the starting line but a little ways after it.

Looking up the evasive maneuvers ahead of time proved helpful. Auri managed to not get slammed into the wall. Then she had to swerve hard to keep from getting shoved into the green. Rhianna had shut-up herself, and Linkin Park was rapping to a heavy beat.

Blurr was closing the distance between himself and the femmes. Suddenly, though, Auri realized that Chromia was _letting_ him close the distance. She wasn't going as fast as she had been.

"_Front to the back and the side to side._" Linkin Park rapped. Chromia zigzagged a little, almost tauntingly, to the music. "_Front to the back and the side to side._" Then she accelerated.

Auri accelerated after her. Tease. Chromia had been teasing Blurr. Blurr probably didn't care, though. He loved a good race.

::Okay, Auri,:: he intercommed, friendly competition in his tone. ::Give me your best block.:: He never trash-talked her like the Twins, and he always treated her gently, never gloating when she lost to him.

Auri put Chromia out of her processor and focused on blocking Blurr.

::Good!:: he encouraged when her first tactic worked. She could tell he was smiling, pleased with her progress. ::See if you can hold it now.:: He usually coached her when they raced. ::Steady does it.::

He didn't press her too hard, and she managed to hold her position in front of him until they came to one of the tighter curves. Then he passed her. She tried too late to block him and ended up swerving a little, not quite losing control but coming close.

::Youokay?:: he asked,

::I'm fine.:: Auri replied as she steadied herself.

Then she kept up but hung back a little, curious to see how he and Chromia would tangle.

And, did they ever tangle. Auri cringed mentally when Chromia pinned Blurr against the outer concrete wall. Sparks flew and paint came off, leaving bluish streaks on the wall. Blurr dropped behind Chromia. Then she tried to spin him out. He slammed into her bumper hard, and Auri began speculating on whether Chromia would kill him after the race or not. She swerved to avoid some bits of debris.

Blurr managed to pass Chromia after a brutal while, and Auri gusted a sigh of relief as she accelerated to catch up with Chromia.

The three of them bore down on the finish line; Blurr crossed it, and then Auri opened up a final burst of speed. She hadn't fought as hard as Chromia had; she hoped that Chromia would be a little tired and not have extra energy for a final sprint. She inched up alongside Chromia and didn't get any resistance. They were front bumper to front bumper then, and Auri was gaining steadily on Chromia. They were mere yards from the finish when Chromia jumped forwards.

Auri yelped as she lost. That had been _so_ last second. She transformed, and Chromia and Blurr were congratulating each other.

"You should race more often." Blurr was saying exuberantly. Nobody had given him that rough of a time it a _long_ time. "Really!"

"Eh." Chromia said, shrugging it off.

Auri eyed them. They were going to need to repaint a bit, and there were some dings in both bots' armor that would have to be pounded out. She didn't think Chromia should race more often _at all_; it wouldn't be safe for the other bots.

"Auri," Blurr said, "Good job." He praised, "I can really tell that you've been listening to my coaching. It's nice to see."

"Thank-you, Blurr." Auri said, smiling up at him.

"I'll see you." He said, patting her shoulder briefly, "I've got patrol in a couple minutes."

Chromia chuckled as he left. "Had patrol and couldn't pass up a race." She said, watching him go.

"It was _quite_ a race." Auri said, still feeling amazed at all that she'd seen. It had been wonderful to blast down the pavement, and seeing Chromia and Blurr race had been breath-taking… and scary.

"And you raced well." Chromia said.

"Thank-you."

"But you still lost." Chromia said, chuckling.

"You lost as well." Auri said. Chromia's left optic-ridge went up as Auri continued. "You said loser kisses Prowl. We _both_ lost to Blurr. We both…" Auri trailed off as Chromia choked with laughter.

Chromia chortled then managed to contain her laughter. "Auri, love" she said, optics twinkling in delight, "Blurr wasn't in on our bet. It was only between me and you, and between the two of us, you lost. I'm not kissing Prowl."

Auri thought about it a second. It was better that way, actually. Prowl would be displeased about getting kissed once; he'd probably revolt if he had to get kissed twice. "Okay." She said amiably.

Chromia reached over and gave Auri's shoulder a rub. "Now whatchya wanna do?" she asked.

"Go to the beach." Auri said without hesitation, smiling up at her guardian.

"To the beach it is then." Chromia said, and she was happy when Auri reached over to hold her hand as they walked.

"Where did you learn to race?" Auri asked.

"Eh, lots of us liked to race after school." Chromia said. She didn't add that half of it had been illegal drag-racing. Auri heard the withholding tone and knew to change the subject. She did so, and they talked as they walked to the beach.

Once they got to the sand, they ran to the water. Chromia slowed and stopped when she got to the damp sand, but Auri kept going. She ran after a receding wave, and then she squealed and ran to Chromia when the next wave came curling towards her.

"Save me!" she squealed happily, throwing herself at her guardian so hard that Chromia stumbled backwards, laughing at the femme-ling's antics. Then Chromia fell, landing on her backside with Auri beside her.

"You tripped me, you little stinker." Chromia scolded playfully, hauling Auri across her lap.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Auri tried to sound dismayed, but she was giggling too much.

Chromia smacked her behind ever so lightly once then twice, and then she yelped as a handful of damp sand was slopped firmly into the small of her back. "Eew!" She let go of the squirming, giggling femme-ling to brush the sand off, and Auri scampered away to stand a little ways off with a big grin.

"Can't get me," Auri teased, prancing a little in the sand.

"Oh, we'll see about that," Chromia said, picking herself up slowly with a smile. Then she sprinted for Auri and, catching up with her quickly, she scooped the smaller femme off her pedes, making her squeal. She spun her around a little then put her back on her pedes to let her try to run again. Auri ran, and Chromia let her get a little ways away, and then she gave chase.

Auri laughed and dropped to the ground the next time Chromia grabbed for her. She rolled and came up quite covered with sand.

Chromia stopped and just stood laughing at the sight. Her spark finally didn't feel so heavy now. It was good to play.

Auri looked down at herself. "Well." She said.

"Into the ocean with you," Chromia said, grinning.

"No one's going to put _me_ in the ocean!" Auri decreed, "I am…" she looked at herself. "I'm Mega-Sand." She made a grandiose gesture. "All fear me. And those who don't fear me suffer the penalties."

"Oh, oh, I'm quaking in my special-issue pede-guards."

"As you should! Now kneel, or suffer."

Chromia put her hands on her hips. "Suffer what?" she sassed, still laughing at Auri's appearance.

"Um…." Mega-Sand looked around, "The seaweed treatment." She decided, trotting over to a pile of kelp and dragging out a long strand. "It's very torturous." She added, "You will beg for mercy after one minute, and scream for it after two. At three, you will become inarticulate, and at four-" Mega-Sand paused dramatically, "Well, no one's ever made it to four, so _we_ don't know."

Chromia stood thinking; she'd encouraged the game initially, but she disliked the turn that it had taken.

Mega-Sand approached with the seaweed. "And now you choose." Mega-Sand said,

"How about, we play a game where nobody suffers."

"I don't recall _that_ being one of the options," Mega-sand began loftily. Chromia raised an optic-ridge warningly. "But I don't see why it couldn't be." Mega-Sand quickly amended. "Anyway. Moving on. First off, we must have a fortress. It wouldn't be a proper dictatorship without a fortress."

Chromia paused meaningfully. Dictatorships meant suffering.

Mega-Sand's wings lifted questioningly. "No dictatorship?"

"No dictatorship."

Auri looked around. "Let's just build a sandcastle." She said.

"We can do that." Chromia said, giving her a nod and smile of approval. Auri looked happy and tossed away the seaweed. Then they went down to the damp sand together and began planning out their sandcastle.

The amount of planning Auri put into the sandcastle made Chromia smile. Chromia would have just started mounding up sand for walls and gone from there, but Auri sketched out a plan in the sand with a piece of driftwood and decided how it should be designed before they got started with the construction. Chromia paused in thought. Whenever Prowl was forced to take a day off, Auri would spend it with him, and Chromia knew they always spent a number of hours at the beach. She wondered if Prowl was the one who had put it into Auri's processor to plan out the building first or if Auri had come up with it on her own. It would be amusing to know sometime.

"Okay." Auri said. She was satisfied with her plan now and ready to build. She made up a story for the castle and told it to Chromia as they worked, and Chromia enjoyed it immensely.

After a while, the castle was done, and Auri took some pictures of it. "I photograph _all_ my castles so they'll last forever." She said.

"_All_ of them?" Chromia was sitting on the sand now, leaning back on her hands. She'd seen Auri take pictures of their sandcastles before, but she'd not realized that she'd taken pictures of all of them.

Auri nodded. "Every single last one of them." She said, plopping down beside Chromia, still holding her camera tablet.

Chromia held her hand out for it, and Auri happily gave it to her.

"That's the one Bee and I made last week." Auri said, leaning against Chromia to see her pictures as well.

Chromia scrolled to the next one and blinked at it.

"Prowl designed that one." Auri said. "It took forever to build."

"I'll say." Chromia murmured. It bore a striking resemblance to one of the buildings in the Autobot capitol back on Cybertron.

"He did that one, too." Auri said when Chromia looked at the next one. This one was familiar to Chromia as well. "He smashed it, though, suddenly for no reason." Auri added, looking at it thoughtfully, "He murmured an apology when I stared at him, and then he shook his head and got up and walked away. I thought it was probably best to let him go, but I do wonder why he did that."

Chromia eyed the photo thoughtfully. "Well… it reminds me of some buildings on Cybertron, and it might have reminded him of the same thing. He might have felt upset by the memory."

Auri looked up at her questioningly. "Does it make _you_ upset."

Chromia shook her head. "No. I'm impressed by how well it's made. It makes me a little homesick, but not upset. Prowl's pretty different from me, though."

"That's true." Auri said. "Hey, look at the next one."

Chromia looked at the next one. "Umm…" It wasn't based off anything from Cybertron.

"Lord of the Rings." Auri said, "It's one of the places from the movies, but I don't remember which or where."

"Oh." Chromia said. Prowl didn't watch Lord the Rings, _did he?!_

"Flareup and I did it."

Chromia paused. "I thought she didn't like the movies…"

"She can't stand the spiders because of something that happened to her with some spider-creatures, but she likes the rest of the movies." Auri explained.

"I see." Chromia was mildly disturbed that Flareup had said something about her run-in with spider-creatures to Auri, but then she reminded herself that Flareup knew to be careful about what she told Auri.

"Here's another one that Prowl designed." Auri said, moving to the next picture.

Chromia looked at it and smiled. Apparently Prowl was going through all the capitol buildings. They looked at sandcastle pictures for a little while, and then Auri looked like she was done with that and put the tablet away.

"Now what?" Chromia asked. She didn't want this time with Auri to end, but she sensed that Auri was wanting to head back to Med-Bay soon.

"A bubble bath." Auri said, wriggling her fingers with a smile, "A super-washy-frothy bubble bath."

Chromia smiled. That sounded perfect.

* * *

Hee! That's the most fluff I've written in quite a while! I think we might have needed it, though.

Now… Reviews per chapter on this story have been dropping, and it's bothering me. The first few chapters hit twenty-one reviews at tops and then we were in the teens. Now we're down to single digits. What am I doing that you guys aren't liking? I'm not going to jump around and howl "Flamer! Meanie, meanie flamer!" if you say I need to work on something, like "Hey… Cairi, I'm enjoying your story, but I feel like it needs more work in the area of _such and such_, and it should have more/less of _this or that_." I appreciate constructive criticism and take it quite seriously. Let me know, please? I want my writing and story to be as good as possible, but I can't always see them well enough to know what they need.


	11. Chapter 11, Connivings, Kissings, and Co

Thank-you all so much for your feedback. It all made perfect sense, and I was like, "Ooooh! I see that now! I'm so glad I asked!" The general consensus was:

1. Soundwave, Soundwave, we want Soundwave!

2. Plot's going rather slow now…

3. What is up with the other Cons?

4. Summer's a busy time.

So, I'm on it now. Expect Soundwave within the next three chapters. The plot will pick up now. The other Cons will receive a little more screen time. And I can't do anything about summer except wait it out.

* * *

Chapter 11

**Connivings, Kissings, and Confessions**

Thundercracker tried to get comfortable on the boulder that he was sitting on, but somehow it wasn't working. The wounds he'd sustained while fighting Soundwave and fleeing the Autobots were aching, and there was a burning sensation under the scorch marks on his armor. His conscience was nagging him, too, adding to the discomfort.

Starscream was still ranting about the Autobots and how the pesky things had dipped in to rescue Soundwave.

Thundercracker looked over at Skywarp, who was standing near him. The black and purple Seeker had his hand pressed firm against his shoulder, a little life-Energon staining his fingers, and the scorch marks on his armor looked fairly painful.

Skywarp noticed his attention and rolled his optics meaningfully towards Starscream. He'd had something to say for a while, but Scream had been too busy ranting to stop long enough for anyone to get a word in edgewise. Thundercracker shifted a wing a little as if to say, "I know, irritating, right?"

Blitzwing was looking half bored and half worried, and he was trying to repair part of his arm armor with one hand. Thrust looked chaffed; there were plenty of burn marks on his armor even though he wasn't leaking life-Energon, and those were always uncomfortable. Ramjet looked irked, and there was life-Energon trickling slowly down his back and legs from his wings. Wing injuries were some of the most painful. Things were going to go south soon if Starscream didn't quit irritating the bunch of them and let them have a word.

"LOOK!" Skywarp snapped.

There. Someone had finally silenced Screamer. Skywarp got several looks of aggravated gratitude from his fellows.

Starscream leveled a glare at him. "Oh, _what_?"

"The virus-encoded dagger I stabbed him with repeatedly will do the trick even if the Bots do manage to stop the life-Energon from running out of him." He stated testily.

"And he was leaking like a sieve." Ramjet pointed out, stepping closer to Starscream.

"So." Thrust said, nearing the leader as well "He's lost a huge amount of Energon. And he has a virus. He's as good as dead."

"You think the Autobot medical team won't try to save him?" Starscream asked challengingly, working to hide his nervousness. "He would be extremely valuable." He pointed out.

"Let's say they do." Skywarp said, "What do they do when someone's lost a lot of life-Energon?"

"Put him under stasis, of course." Starscream sneered, "Everyone knows _that_."

"While he's under, the virus will have time to spread. It's a newer virus that's not so easily detected, so the Bots won't catch it until it's too late."

"Besides, he's lost enough life-Energon that it will hurt his system." Blitzwing said.

"Okay, okay," Starscream motioned them to step back and calm down. "Fine. So, he's as good as dead. Now we must figure out what to tell Megatron."

They argued a while, but it was eventually decided that they had been out doing some practice maneuvers when they'd seen a fight on the horizon. They'd gone to check it out and had found the Autobots defeating Soundwave. They'd tried to stop the Autobots, knowing how valuable Soundwave was, but the Bots had overpowered them and taken Soundwave's corpse.

"Ummm…" Thundercracker said, "How did we know he was completely dead?"

"Oh, blast Megatron for wanting details." Starscream said peevishly. "Why can't he take our word for it? –No, don't answer that." he scowled at Thrust for opening his mouth. "Alright. We weren't certain that he was dead, but he looked brutally mangled, and the amount of spilled Energon was considerable, plus, Chromia was there, and we all know how she feels about Decepticon mechs."

"Kill them on the spot." Several of the flyers said.

"I heard once that she slept with them before she got recruited by the Autobots." Blitzwing said, smirking.

"Hahaha!" Thrust found that amusing, as did the others.

"Maybe that's _why_ she wants to kill them." Thundercracker said in a tone that put a damper on it. "I think Starscream's suggestion was a good and will be convincing."

"_Thank_-you, Thundercracker." Starscream said, "So there. We have our plan. We go back to _Nemesis_ now and break to _sad_ news to our _esteemed_ leader."

"And then we go to medical-bay." Skywarp said,

Starscream jumped and transformed, taking off and heading back to the bridging point. The others followed. Once they bridged back onto the _Nemesis_, Starscream lead the way to the bridge of the ship where Megatron was most likely to be found.

Megatron eyed them with calculating optics when they entered.

"We have some bad news, my liege," Starscream said, sounding reluctant.

Megatron arched an optic-ridge. "I am so surprised." His tone was one of silky sarcasm.

"We were out doing some practice maneuvers, and we saw a fight on the horizon… once we got there… well…." He seemed to stumble for words, "The Autobots had attacked Soundwave, my liege. He was down by the time we reached him." He shuddered, "There was so much life-Energon around him, soaking the sand. We tried to drive the Autobots off, knowing how vital he was to our cause, but the Bots were too many and they drove us off, wounding us as you see."

Megatron's optics shifted over the flyers bodies. They were reasonably damaged.

"They got his corpse, I'm afraid." Starscream added dismally.

Megatron's optics narrowed, and curse words filtered through his mind.

"He was so mangled, all torn to pieces by their various weapons. And Chromia was among the ground forces. You know how she feels about Decepticon mechs. She would have killed him, orders or no orders."

There was a heavy silence as Megatron processed this. Rage filled him. Soundwave, his best, had failed him a little, and then he'd gotten himself killed while on exile? Was there no honor? Could he depend on no one?

"Dismissed." He said after a moment, and the Seekers heard the undertone of rage in his two syllables.

They left quickly, not wanting to be in the room when he lost his temper. The doors closed behind them, and Thrust sighed with relief. Then, from behind the door, came the sound of a metal fist smashing into something. The Seekers met each others' optics then crept away.

They went to the medical bay and got patched up and then they congregated in the eating area and picked through the Energon cubes to find some worth drinking.

"We should confirm that Soundwave's dead." Starscream said halfway through his cube.

"Confirm?!" his suggestion wasn't well received.

"Whadever fo?" Thrust slurred.

"Because, if he's not dead, there will be serious trouble down the road for us." Starscream retorted.

"How are we supposed to get confirmation?" Blitzwing grumbled.

There was a large bit of griping and arguing between the Seekers as they tried to come up with an answer, and then Thundercracker, who'd remained quiet, raised his hand.

"I have an idea." He said. They eyed him, "Why don't we just ask?"

They stared at him like he'd lost his mind, all except Thrust. He stared at his high-grade like it has lost _its_ mind.

"It could work," Thundercracker said, "And it would be simple. We would just ask nicely and explain that we'll cause trouble if they won't answer and provide proof."

"Alright," Starscream said, looking annoyed at such a ridiculously simplistic suggestion. "You do it."

Thundercracker had seen that coming, so he nodded his head. "Can I take Skywarp with me?"

Skywarp spit out his high-grade. "What?!"

"If he doesn't mind." Starscream said.

Thunder looked over at his trine-member and knew he'd have to bribe him. "You'll get my next two week's high-grade rations." He said. That didn't sell it. "And your pick of the femmes we pick up when we take break on the outpost next month." He added. He didn't enjoy using femmes as much as he had in the past, so it didn't really matter to him.

"Okay." Skywarp said, "If you'll clean my weapons for the next two weeks as well."

"Deal." Thundercracker said heavily.

"And we wait two days so my shoulder can heal."

Thundercracker looked over at Starscream.

"That's fine." Screamer said dismissively. A couple days wouldn't hurt.

"Alright," Thundercracker said, "I agree to those terms."

The flyers stayed for a while, but then it seemed like it would be time to wander off to various quarters. Blitzwing trudged off, and Ramjet punched Thrust lightly to see if he would get up, but Thrust merely slurred something. Ramjet helped him up and supported his weight, half-carrying him as they left.

"Glad they aren't in my trine." Starscream snorted once he, Thundercracker, and Skywarp were the only ones left.

"You're telling me." Skywarp agreed. "Hey, not to borrow trouble, but…"

Starscream gave him an unfriendly look.

"What about the blasted cassettes?"

Starscream rolled his optics upwards in exasperation.

"They're almost enough reason to not wish Soundwave dead." Thundercracker murmured.

Starscream cast about for an answer then paused. "Well, the little beasts won't be expecting him back for three weeks. Perhaps they'll keep out of the way until then. We'll deal with them when we have to. I'm tired. That's it for tonight." He rose and left then.

Skywarp stretched and yawned. Then he teleported out of sight.

Thundercracker was left alone with his conscience.

OoOoOoOoO

"Twenty more days left." Frenzy said, frowning. Rumble found a spare wrench and threw it at him, missing. Ravage got up and picked the wrench up between his teeth and carried it away to a corner and dropped it there.

Lazerbeak dropped down from his perch and landed on Soundwave's desk beside Frenzy. Rumble glared at him from Soundwave's chair.

"Things don't feel right." Ravage said, coming over. He sprang onto the desk, landing beside Frenzy.

Frenzy grunted and got down to sit with Rumble. Rumble elbowed him, but he elbowed back harder, and Rumble let him stay.

"They haven't felt right since Soundwave left." Rumble told Ravage.

Ravage shook his head. "They haven't felt right since forty minutes _after_ Soundwave left."

Lazerbeak cocked his head like a curious pterodactyl, and Frenzy sat up a little straighter.

"Yeah…" Rumble said, looking astonished. "You're right."

"What's with that?" Frenzy asked.

"Dunno, but it's weird." Rumble frowned.

"Guess we'll find out tomorrow." Frenzy said, curling up a little and closing his optics.

"You're not sleeping in this chair; I am." Rumble told him.

"You can tomorrow night." Frenzy replied.

"I was here first."

"So, your turn is over; it's my turn now."

"What on earth? Your _turn_ is tomorrow."

"I'm already half-way in recharge."

"No, you're not."

The twins kept arguing, but Ravage shook his head and went to find a quiet place to sleep, as did Lazerbeak. They would need all the rest they needed if they were going to try to figure out what was wrong in the morning.

OoOoOoOoO

"I've got a few words for you." First Aid said grimly to Ironhide once Auri was in the other room. He seemed to be forgetting that Ironhide could easily pin him down and smack him. Ironhide had done it once or twice before.

"Hold up." Ratchet said to his junior, "I have some words for him first."

First Aid looked unusually resistant, but he submitted to Ratchet's seniority and authority.

Ironhide got to his pedes. "Let's hear it." He said grimly, mentally readying himself for one of Ratchet's tongue-lashings… which usually included getting a wrench pegged at him. Those smarted.

"You were completely out of hand yesterday." Ratchet told Ironhide, "And I understand exactly. I would have been just as bad if not worse."

Ironhide did a double take; Ratchet had just said that he understood?

First Aid stared a little; Ironhide needed to be chewed up, spit out, and chewed up again, in his opinion. And Ratchet had said what?

Ratchet went on. "But things have settled down now, so you listen to me." He said sternly.

Ironhide nodded, feeling rather caught off guard. First Aid crossed his arms.

"Auri is a resilient little thing, but she is highly vulnerable to emotional damage right now." Ratchet said, "She's got a thousand questions dangling on the edge of a cliff and she doesn't know if they'll get answered. Everything is an uncertainty to her now. She needs, _vitally_ needs, your and Chromia's support. She needs to know that she can rely on you two no matter what happens. I know you both love her dearly. She knows it, too, but with her world turning upside-down, she's going to need that reinforced. She's scared, Ironhide; she is so scared. I don't have words for how scared she is. She was crying last time because she was afraid that you and Chromia wouldn't want her because Soundwave had been her guardian. You cannot let her think that for even a second. You hear me?"

Ironhide nodded swiftly, alarmed at the prospect of Auri think he wouldn't want her. "I hear you, Ratchet. Thank-you for letting me know."

"Just be careful." Ratchet said a little more softly. "She's a precious little darling, and I don't want her hurt."

"I will." Ironhide promised, "And I know. I would never do anything to hurt her."

"I know." Ratchet nodded that he was done. Ironhide looked over to First Aid.

"Um…" First Aid said uncertainly, looking chastised. He'd been mad about Ironhide's treatment of Elita, but Ratchet had just shown him that yesterday was in the past and they needed to move on and think about Auri. "Uh, what he said. That's all, really" he managed to say, looking uncomfortable.

Auri popped in, "Ratchet-" She paused and looked around at the mechs' expressions. _Some_thing was going on, and First Aid looked like he'd gotten chewed up. "Ratchet," she said, "I'm going out for a little while with Chromia. Okay? I'll be back after a while."

"Okay." Ratchet said gently. "Have a good time."

"We will…!" she scampered off.

They waited until her footfalls had faded away before saying anything.

"I'm glad of that." Ratchet said, motioning towards the doorway Auri had exited through. "She needs that."

"They both do, probably." Ironhide said.

Ratchet nodded.

Ironhide shifted. "Well," He said, "If that's all, I will be seeing you two later." He started to turn towards the door.

"Well, one more thing." Ratchet said,

Ironhide paused and looked to the medic. Ratchet had a wrench out. He held it up.

"If you treat Elita like that ever again," Ratchet said, pointing the wrench at him, "This will hurt. A lot. Is that clear?"

Ironhide nodded. "Very clear, Ratchet. Very clear."

OoOoOoOoO

Prowl decided that he disliked not having Auri in his office. It was a definite fact. He had all this work to keep him busy, but now he was used to having Auri interrupt him from time to time to ask questions about work or about completely irrelevant things. For as many times as he'd gently rebuked her for asking unnecessary questions, he thought he would have been glad to have her not asking them, but he wasn't. He was finding that he missed those irrelevant questions in particular.

Auri stuck her head in his office. "Prowl?"

He looked up, startled by her sudden appearance. "Wh… yes?"

"Um…" she slipped in and closed the door. She looked a little guilty, her wings lowering as she approached his desk. "Chromia and I raced, and I let her talk me into betting on it. I knew, I know, I shouldn't have," she continued earnestly, "But she was so glum, and you know how much more she enjoys competition if she has a bet on it. I just wanted her be her usual self, so I let her talk me into it, and besides, I'd never seen her on the race track; I thought I had a chance. But, I really didn't."

Prowl nodded, wondering why exactly _he_ was getting this confession. Then suddenly he thought of something. "Please tell me that the bet did not involve me."

Auri looked sideways. "I cannot lie to you, Prowl."

Prowl closed his optics. "Auri…" He said, and she gave him a coaxing look when he opened his optics again. "Auri, I told you not to make any more bets with Chromia."

"I know… it's just that… that…" she hung her head. "I wanted her to be her normal self."

Prowl found his optics on his keyboard. He'd lied to Magnus because he'd wanted Magnus to be his 'normal self.' Auri had bet with Chromia because she'd wanted Chromia to be her 'normal self.' He realized then that he understood all too well how Auri felt. Auri wanted things normal as he did. She hadn't gone as far as he had, though.

He sighed. "I… understand." He said reluctantly. "What… what was the bet?"

"Remember the last bet…?" she winced a little.

He remembered it precisely. How sweet her little fingertips had felt against his upper arm. Her little lips had been so silky soft against his cheek… so delightful, and he had felt the gentle warmth of her face so near his.

He nodded.

"Well… it's like that." Auri said, avoiding optic contact.

He felt mildly strangled. "Ah."

"Five-forty-five, at the secondary lounge." Auri said as if repeating directions.

"Six-thirty." Prowl said firmly. "And no sooner."

Auri looked uneasy. "Promise?"

Prowl nodded.

"Thank-you." She said softly. She hesitated. "I… I am sorry, Commander."

He rose and went over to her, and she lowered her head as he approached. "I know you have had a rough day and a half." He said gently, venturing to touch her arm, "I understand that you made the choice to cheer Chromia up because you wanted things to seem normal. It is alright."

"You sure?" she asked in a little voice.

He put a hand under her chin and gently made her look at him. There was a little fear in her optics as they met his. He wondered why, a slight questioning frown touching his expression.

"You rapped my hand with the butt of your stun-gun last time I asked to kiss you for a bet." She explained softly.

He shook his head regretfully. "_That_ was for repeatedly talking back when I said 'no.'" He wished he hadn't done that now; he wished he had never rapped the palm of her hand with his stun-gun _ever_. He'd done it a few times over the past couple years. She'd outright disobeyed him once, and he'd done it because it had been the first thing that he'd thought of. It had worked, so it had become standard. It smarted just a little, but it didn't do damage or cause much pain, and she disliked it enough that it was effective. He wished that he'd never done anything that she'd disliked. _He was sorry…_

"It… it's alright." She said, and he realized that he'd said 'sorry' aloud. Her optics were soft, a little understanding, also a little troubled, but mostly caring.

Prowl wondered what sparks were made out of and why his seemed to be melting. It kind of hurt a little. Then he wondered why he didn't kiss her right there, but he knew why. He took his hand away from her chin so it wouldn't be tempted to draw her closer.

"Six-thirty," He said, and she nodded. "I will be there."

"Okay. G'bye."

The words 'good bye' got stuck in Prowl's throat for some reason, and then Auri had left. He went back and sat down at his desk. He slid his chair back and folded his arms across each other, resting them on his desk, and then he rested his chin on his wrists. He really wasn't sure what to do with himself. He… he really didn't know.

He got back to work after a few minute, and five-thirty rolled around after a couple centuries. He clocked out and went to find Ironhide. He found him at the secondary lounge. The secondary lounge was smaller than the other lounge, and fewer bots tended to show up at it. Ironhide was alone, lazing on a couch and dangling a data-pad between his fingers.

"Hello, Prowl." Ironhide said. The data-pad slipped into subspace as Ironhide turned his attention to Prowl.

"Hello." Prowl said. He thought about sitting but couldn't decide. The real problem was how to broach his subject.

"Sit." Ironhide said, "Talk. Have an Energon."

"Ironhide," Prowl made an effort to not pace and managed to stand still, "Ironhide- you have to stop Chromia."

"You want to explain?"

"Chromia got Auri to bet against her, and Auri lost, and now she has to k-kiss- mme."

Ironhide's cocked an optic-ridge.

"Ironhide, I cannot take it."

"Why not, Prowl?" Ironhide asked.

"Why not?" Prowl echoed, "Because… because… I… can't." he twitched his door-wings.

"Very logical." Ironhide said drily, looking down at his Energon.

Prowl made himself gust some cool air through his system and focused on logic and calming down. He did it a second time and felt slightly better but not much.

"Ironhide," he said softly, "I… nnnn… Ironhide, there… th-…" he sighed. He sat down.

Ironhide looked carefully at him and decided that it was serious. He rose and went over and sat down on the couch that Prowl was sitting on, angling himself towards Prowl but not sitting too close, about an arm's length.

"What is it, Prowl?" he asked.

Prowl place a palm against his forehead. "Feelings." He said unhappily.

"Feelings… for a certain young femme…?"

Prowl's wings hunched up, and he nodded.

Ironhide had figured that this sort of thing would happen sooner or later, a mech developing feelings for his little femme-ling. As for that mech being Prowl… Chromia had thought it would be Prowl, but Ironhide had been thinking more along the lines of Bumblebee. Bee was closer in age to Auri. Prowl wasn't unreasonably older than Auri, but there was a bit of a stretch in years between them. Bee was more expressive and outgoing than Prowl, as was Auri. Bee was quicker to express delight and more eager and more likely to do something on a cheerful whim than Prowl was. As was Auri. Bee and Auri both liked to race and play games and surprise others and get surprised themselves. Prowl never played, he disliked surprises, and the only time he ever surprised others was when he dropped a dry humorous one-liner on them.

Ironhide paused his thoughts suddenly. There was more than one kind of feeling. It could be a negative feeling. Maybe it was. It probably wasn't. But, maybe… "What… what sort of feelings?" Ironhide asked cautiously.

Prowl's wings lowered a little more. "Tender… soft feelings… of care. D-deep compassion."

"Mm. That kind." He said slowly. This would need careful handling. He hesitated then asked another question. "Why?"

The wings lifted up a little then lowered, an almost helpless gesture. "She… She… Ironhide, she's darling." He sounded pained. "She's so darling. She… I just realized yesterday that she has been deliberately doing things to make me smile once a day. Her perspective is so different from mine... She is so full of wonder at everything, and she is delighted so easily. And what's more is that her delight lightens my spark, and _that_ makes her happy. I don't want anything to ever stop making her happy. I wish I could keep her safe and make sure nothing ever hurts her." he seemed finished for second. Then, "And I want to hold her." he confessed.

Ironhide worked on processing all that. It was a lot. It was almost overwhelming, actually. He'd been Prowl's guardian for a short period of time, and he'd been his mentor for a long time; he was pretty emotionally attached to the younger mech as he would be to a son. And Auri was his daughter. He had to be thinking deeply about both of his children, not just one.

Ironhide paused. "What's the problem with having feelings for her?" he asked, but he was fairly certain he knew the answer.

"I must not." Prowl said.

"Prime has a sparkmate, and I have a sparkmate. Prime and I are both high-rank and pretty busy; I can't say that that hasn't hurt our relationships with our m-"

"My rank and job interfering isn't it." Prowl interrupted, sounding almost upset,

Ironhide paused. Then it had to be… "Prowl, I know you weren't _planning_ to love-"

"Planning has nothing to do with it either!" he sounded frustrated.

Ironhide mentally took a step back. Apparently he wasn't thinking deeply enough. Or, maybe he was assuming too much. "Well… Prowl, what is it then?"

"Everyone I care for gets hurt by the Cons."

Ironhide paused. He thought that was a little over the top. "Prowl," he said gently, "Everyone _period_ gets hurt by the Cons. I could say that everyone _I_ care for gets hurt by the Cons."

Prowl shook his head. "Not to the same degree."

"Explain that for me."

"Those I care for especially suffer more at the hands of the Cons than those I don't care for as much. Example. I have some care for Smokescreen because his is a fellow door-winger and a former student; he's suffered some Con interrogation and come back with a few scars. I care for Bumblebee immensely as though he was my baby brother, and he got brutalized by the Cons to the degree that he nearly died and can barely speak now."

Ironhide reflected on this and Prowl's other relationships. He realized with a great deal of pain that Prowl's closest friends from Cybertron were dead, killed by the Cons. It wasn't Prowl's fault, though. He could see Prowl blaming himself, though, simply because Prowl was a protective bot.

"Prowl," he said softly, "It's not your fault."

"Sometimes it is." Prowl said quietly.

"Nnnno." Ironhide shook his head.

"You weren't there all the time; you wouldn't know." Prowl met Ironhide's optics for the first time since he'd sat. "You haven't seen or heard it all."

Ironhide cocked his head. "Prowl, what about me?" he asked, "You care for me, but nothing remarkably horrible has happened to me."

"I do not care _for_ you, Ironhide. I care _about_ you. There is a difference."

Ironhide bit back a groan and wondered if he would _never_ understand Prowl. The door-winged mech thought in such complicated and convoluted ways.

"I do not see you as someone to be looked out for or protected." Prowl said, his inflection indicating that he was explaining things patiently. "I do protect and watch out for you in battle, but that is merely having your back. Bumblebee is someone to be looked out for or protected. When I have his back in battle, I am guarding him."

"Oh….kay…" Ironhide processed this bit of data. He paused. There was someone he didn't want to talk about. He needed to, though, in order to get things straightened out. It had been almost ten years now, and it still hurt. "Prowl," he said gently, "What about Ja-"

"NO-!"

Ironhide flinched at the raw pain in Prowl's tone. So, neither of them wanted to talk about what had happened. Ironhide decided to drop the subject, deeply regretting the fact that he'd brought it up.

"I had taken a posting, a _great_ posting." Prowl said suddenly, his tone low but fierce, "And he tried to talk me into coming to earth when Prime asked for volunteers. But I told him I'd come once the posting had finished. It wasn't long, but it turned out to be too long. He was always too reckless and confident and care-free, always took on mechs who were too big for him; I _told you_ to watch out for that, but-" he stopped. "He would have listened to me. Or the twins. I should have _made_ Sunny go with him."

Ironhide's optics rested on Prowl, taking in his body language, the expressive wings speaking of bereavement and grief. For a few moments he didn't know what to say. Then,

"You cannot hold yourself responsible for a mature mech's decisions." He said quietly. He felt cold and calculating saying that, but he told himself that it needed to be said.

"Yes, I can." Prowl quietly. "He was my younger cousin and he had judgment issues."

"Prime wouldn't have had him as his acting second in command if-"

"Not on _all_ judgments, Ironhide. Now, stop. I do not want to talk about him anymore."

"Fine." Ironhide growled, rather frustrated now. "Where does Elita stand?"

"I care _for_ her, and she…" Prowl faltered as a shudder shook his shoulders and wings, "Ironhide," he said quietly, "When she and I were stationed on the Nilmif outpost, she told several of her officers, me among them, a secret. We got attacked by Cons later, fairly unexpectedly, on my watch, and she got pretty badly hurt." Prowl looked at Ironhide then, and the big mech felt his life-Energon run cold at the haunted look in Prowl's optics. "Do you know what her secret was?" Prowl asked.

Ironhide shook his head even as pain and fear gathered in his spark.

"She was carrying." Prowl said very quietly.

Ironhide looked away.

"She lost her sparkling, Ironhide." Prowl told him.

Ironhide nodded that he understood. Indeed, he understood so much that it _hurt_.

"It was a femme-ling." Prowl said, "A perfect, tiny, _tiny_ femme-ling. Purest blue optics… shone for a few moments. Every time I see Elita look at Auri… every time…"

Prowl didn't complete the sentence, but Ironhide didn't need him to. He knew what Prowl meant. He'd seen something in Elita's optics from time to time when she looked at Auri; he'd thought it had been a longing for a youngling of her own, and it had been, but it was more painful than that. It wasn't that she didn't have a sparkling; it was that she'd had one for a fleeting moment of her life and had lost it.

Ironhide sighed softly. He couldn't argue against Prowl anymore, not after hearing that; he knew that if Elita had lost her sparkling on _his_ watch, he would have never forgiven himself. He probably wouldn't have been able to handle it at all, actually. It made his spark ache to think about it now.

"Ironhide." Prowl said, and Ironhide heard a change in Prowl's tone. Prowl was calm now, steadied and resolved. "Thank-you. Talking was helpful."

Ironhide wanted to grieve Elita's loss, but he made himself look back at Prowl.

"I have my answer." Prowl said. From his calmness, Ironhide knew that he'd gone with 'logic,' but Prowl's logic when it came to relationships was warped to a certain degree in Ironhide's optics.

"And that is?"

"No." Prowl said. "My answer is 'no.'"

Ironhide nodded, not knowing what else to say. His spark ached for Elita now, and it ached for Prowl in new ways. He realized now that little changes had happened in Prowl in a good way in the past two years since Auri had arrived. Chromia had seen it… Auri had been good for Prowl.

"Prowl?" Ironhide resisted the impulse to put a hand on Prowl's shoulder.

Prowl looked at him sideways.

"Will the answer ever be 'yes'?"

Prowl looked down. There was a tricky question, one he wasn't quite sure to answer.

"Ironhide-!" Auri popped into the lounge with a certain amount of urgency. "Oh!" she stepped back when she caught sight of Prowl. "Excuse me. I am interrupting? I apologize."

"We were nearly finished." Prowl told her, "It is fine. Join us. You had a question for Ironhide?"

Auri paused at the new distance in his tone, but then put it aside. "It's more like a request than a question." she climbed onto Ironhide's lap, "And maybe you can help me, Prowl."

"With what do you need help?"

"Talking to Ironhide about Chromia." She said, putting a finger firmly on Ironhide's chest.

"Is this about the bet?" Ironhide asked, raising an optic-ridge.

"Exactly." Auri said firmly. Then she paused. "How did you guess? You weren't even supposed to know… oh, Prowl told you."

"No one told me not to tell." Prowl said precisely.

Auri cocked her head at him, looking at him curiously. "Is something wrong, Prowl?"

He looked down a moment then back at her. "Ironhide and I were discussing something of a serious and grim nature." He said, his tone softening a little, "I am… not yet out of that mood. My tone was not meant to reflect our present circumstances. I apologize if I gave that impression."

"It's alright." Auri told him caringly. "Well, down to business, Ironhide." she said, looking firm. "You must get Chromia to call off our bet. Prowl _really_ doesn't want me to kiss him, and I _really_ don't think I should. At all."

"Then why did you agree to the bet in the first place?" Ironhide asked.

"_Because_." Auri huffed a little with frustration at herself, "Chromia is happier when she gets to bet, _and_ I thought I would win."

"So." Ironhide said. "You got yourself into something, and you want me to get you out of it?"

Auri nodded slowly.

Ironhide didn't say anything. He needed to teach Auri, _but_ he needed to protect Prowl, _and_ he needed to not rile Chromia. He wasn't altogether sure that he could do all three. He was going to give Chromia a serious talking to later, but for now he needed to not rile her when she showed up.

"Aurion," Prowl said, "You did something intentionally and now you tell Ironhide to undo it. That is not reasonable."

Auri looked at him, looking a tiny bit reproachful. "You said earlier that you understood my betting and that it was alright."

"I did understand it. I should _not_ have said it was alright, though. And I did _not_ say you should tell Ironhide to resolve it. You must take responsibility for your actions."

Auri's wings lowered.

Ironhide gave her back a comforting rub. "I'm afraid Prowl has a valid point there." He said gently, "You need to hold to your bet or accept the forfeiture penalty. And from what I've seen, heard, and experienced, you'd better not forfeit."

"Okay." Auri said reluctantly. She doubted Chromia would be seriously rough on her if she forfeited, but she decided that she shouldn't take chances, especially if Ironhide was advising her. She settled against Ironhide, snuggling a little. Ironhide put an arm around her and rested a hand on her side.

"Did you have a good day?" Ironhide asked her.

She nodded. "It was different from other days, but it wasn't bad, and I had nice times with Prowl and Chromia."

"What did you and Chromia do?"

"Oh, we went to the playground, and then we raced –that's where the betting happened- and then we went to the beach. That was most fun, and then we spent a while in the bathhouse dealing with all the sand and the sea scum. I went to see Prowl after that, and then I went back to Med-Bay. It had been a couple hours."

Ironhide smiled. "Sounds like it was a couple hours well spent." He said fondly.

Auri nodded. "It was very much so."

Then there was quietness. Auri was soaking in the pleasantness of cuddling with her favorite guardian. And said guardian somehow ended up contemplating the various conversations he'd had that day.

Prowl focused on distancing himself emotionally from Auri. He'd been wavering in the past, but now he'd made a firm decision. He'd told himself 'no,' and he had to obey that. Part of him was rebelling against that, though; a disobedient little will bucked and fought, trying to reason against sense. He tried to grasp it so he could give it harsh beating, but somehow it evaded him.

"Hey," Chromia greeted, coming in.

"Hello," Ironhide said, raising an optic-ridge at her. Auri gave her a reproachful look, and Prowl continued to frown into nothingness.

Chromia paused. It had been fun last time she'd gotten Auri to kiss Prowl. There wasn't a single fun vibe in the whole room at the moment now. Auri's reproachful face wasn't encouraging, and Prowl looked like someone had put sludge in his Energon. Ironhide didn't appear altogether pleased with her, either; she had a feeling she was going to hear from him later, and not in a pleasant way.

"You guys not happy with me?" Chromia asked.

"No, we're not happy with you!" Auri said, looking a little upset. Prowl's wings twitched, and he looked over at her like he'd just come back to earth.

"Prowl?" Chromia asked.

"I… I was thinking about other things. What was the question?"

Chromia sighed. "Mechs. Oblivious creatures."

"We…" Prowl's optics strayed to Ironhide, "We… aren't oblivious creatures. I had simply zoned out for a few minutes."

"Well," Chromia said, "Wake up. 'Cause you're gonna get kissed twice."

Auri blinked at Chromia and eyed her. Chromia was up to something.

"Twwwice?" Prowl asked guardedly,

"Blurr joined our race, so Auri and I both lost. The terms were that the loser had to kiss you, and since we both lost, we both kiss you." Chromia said. Auri prudently kept her mouth shut, but she looked bewildered.

Prowl edged away a little bit, scooting down the couch a few inches. "I… I object to that." he said.

"You do?"

He nodded.

"Okay." Chromia said, sounding like she was relenting, "I'll forfeit. Auri still has to kiss you, though, because she lost to me. Okay?"

Prowl paused. "Very well. I will accept that."

Auri slipped Chromia a quick look of admiration. Her femme guardian was a sneaky one; she'd made Prowl apprehensive, and then she'd made him think he was getting off so he wouldn't mind Auri kissing him so much.

"Okay." Chromia said.

Prowl got up, and Auri got off Ironhide's lap.

Prowl steeled himself. Auri was simply paying off a bet. There was no affection, he told himself. None.

Auri stood on tiptoes and put a hand on his arm to stable herself. He bent his head, and then her lips softly pressed his cheek, actually lingering for a moment. They were warm, felt sweet, like her fingertips only more delightful. Then she was stepping away. Something made his head feel light, and somehow his logic core had broken into a gathering of butterflies that skipped around his spark. Not good…

"I have to go back to Soundwave now." Auri's voice said,

No…

"Do you want me to walk with you?" Chromia's voice asked.

"Yes. I would like that." Auri's voice answered contentedly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Prowl."

He nodded automatically as the butterflies fluttered and flitted.

Auri hugged Ironhide, and then the femmes left.

Ironhide got up and eyed Prowl. Then he put a hand on his shoulder. Prowl started a little.

"Um…" Prowl said. He didn't know what to say now. The butterflies were obstructing his thought processes. "I… I said 'no.'" He reminded himself.

"You can always change the answer." Ironhide told him.

"That… that… is half true. I could change from 'no' to 'yes,' but I would hurt her unbearably if I changed from 'yes' to 'no.'"

"True. So… you're back to 'maybe' now?"

"Oh, Ironhide, I do not know." Prowl put a hand against his head. "I don't know…" he leaned against Ironhide, and the older mech put a comforting arm around him. "I do know this, though." He said, "It would be completely unfair and unkind for me to bring myself into the picture while she has the stress of Soundwave to deal with."

Ironhide nodded. "That is true."

"So." Prowl said, "Not now. But, maybe later."

"Alright." Ironhide said. "Don't, _don't_ hesitate to talk to me, you hear?"

Prowl nodded. "Yes, sir." He said. Then he murmured good-bye to Ironhide and wandered off to his quarters. He had to figure out what to do with the butterflies that had gotten into his spark…

OoOoOoOoO

Auri drew her knees up to her chest as she sat on Soundwave's berth. Ratchet had told her that she'd have to go to bed soon, within the next half-hour. She was glad that she was allowed to stay with Soundwave, but she felt like someone was _always_ in the room with them. Well, it wasn't a feeling; it was a fact. Someone _was_ always in the room with them; one medic or another had to be constantly monitoring the still Con's vitals. She wished she could have a little time alone with him. Ratchet had told her that her voice helped Soundwave in a way. While he couldn't process, her voice reached his spark and encouraged it. And he needed that.

She'd talked to him a bit that day once Ratchet had told her, but she'd felt a little funny doing it. Now she felt like she really wanted to talk to him, seriously. More than just telling him about the things she'd done that day. She wanted to express feelings. Ones she didn't want the medics to hear.

She sighed and reached over to put her hand on his shoulder. His mangled battle armor had been replaced with some light-duty armor. It was blue, but not quite the right shade of blue, and not every piece was the same shade of blue. At least it was blue.

Ratchet came back in with something to put in the IV, and he told First Aid that Bee would be an hour later than scheduled because of security detail that he had that night.

Auri looked over at them.

"Ratch…?" she asked,

Ratchet came over, "Yes?" he answered, putting a hand comfortingly on her back.

"Can't I be with him alone just a little bit?"

He shook his head reluctantly. "He has to be monitored at all times." He said, "Why, Auri?"

"I… it sounds silly."

"It's okay." He encouraged. "What is it?"

"I want to talk, say some things, but I don't want others to hear them."

Ratchet paused. He thought for a few moments. "I have a small sound barrier device." He said, "I could set that up, and then you could talk."

"Alright."

"Just for a little while, though." He added. She nodded. Ratchet got out the device and set up so it made a dome over where she sat by Soundwave. Anything she said in it would never go past its hazy walls.

Ratchet stepped back, out of the walls.

"Can you hear me?" Auri asked to test it.

Ratchet put his head back in. "I didn't hear that." he said, and that made her smile. He went back to his computer then.

Auri scooted closer to Soundwave. "Ratchet said my voice makes you better even though you can't process my words." She said softly, "I want you better, Soundwave. I want you better so much. I've got questions… so many, many questions. I don't know why you left me… I don't know why you took care of me in the first place… Prowl thinks you had an ulterior motive. He said that, and then he said he shouldn't have said that, but I know he meant it. When he slips up, that's when you find out what he really thinks.

"He's sharp and smart… he's almost always right, and I like that, but I don't want him to be right about you this time. He can be right all the rest of the time, but please, _please_ don't let him be right this time. I think he's upset about you showing up and being my guardian. Not upset at me. I _know_ when he's upset with me. And he isn't now."

She sighed.

"I kissed him… Chromia and I bet on our race, and I lost. So I had to kiss him. I… I wish I could again, but I can't. For some reason… I don't know. I'm almost grown-up, Soundwave, and everything is so confusing. I wish you hadn't left me. I wish you hadn't. But… you'll explain when you wake up. Won't you? If you love me, you will. I guess. Just… please wake up soon. I know it's too soon right now, but please don't keep me waiting lots longer. I… I missed you."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I… I loved you. I… I still love you. I'm not sure if it's right, though; you're a war criminal. You've killed my friends' friends and tried to kill my friends." She put hand back on the shoulder of the mech who'd saved her life. "Like I said: everything's confusing. I guess we'll get it figured out, though."

She turned and looked over at Ratchet. He was talking to First Aid about something, and the clock on the wall indicated that she had only few minutes left before she had to go to bed.

"I've got to get ready for bed." She told her guardian. "Basically just goodnight to Ironhide and Chromia. They're stopping by for me, so I can stay with you."

She deactivated Ratchet's sound barrier device and took it back to him. "Here," she said, "Thank-you much."

Ratchet took it with one hand and put his other arm around her. "Any time, Auri." He told her then pressed a kiss against her helm. "Anything you need, you tell me, okay?"

She nodded. Ratchet was wonderful, she decided. Then she scampered off. She had two guardians to hug, and then she had to go to bed so tomorrow would come.


	12. Chapter 12, Close Calls and Scrape

I now have a part-time job! I'm so happy to have work (income!) again! And then when I go back to college, I'll have my other job through the college, so I'll have two part-time jobs on top of full-time school.

Welcome to the longest chapter I've ever written for this story! It's got 8,400+ words! And it's got Decepticons, and fluff, and angst, fluff and violence. And more fluff!

* * *

Chapter 12

**Close Calls and Scrapes**

Rumble woke Frenzy up by poking him in the side.

"Ug! What?!" Frenzy objected.

"You're on my arm _and_ a leg, and it's _not_ comfortable."

"Serves you right for insisting that you sleep on Soundwave's chair when it's my turn." Frenzy said.

Rumble pushed him off and flexed his limbs.

Ravage came over and jumped up on the desk, looking down at the twins. His optics were serious, as were Lazerbeak's when the flyer came and perched beside the feline.

"The door is locked." Ravage told the twins, "We can't get out."

Frenzy blinked in disbelief. Rumble frowned. "That's… that's…"

"Why would they lock _us_ up?!" Frenzy suddenly said, looking insulted.

"Well, you must admit that you two make pests of yourselves." Ravage pointed out, flicking his tail. "Without Soundwave around to temper you two, I think it only makes sense that you two are locked up."

"We weren't going to go out anyway." Frenzy said. "And we have plenty of Energon stores."

"Yeah." Rumble agreed. "So there. We don't care if they locked the door or not."

Ravage and Lazerbeak met each others' optics for a couple seconds.

"What about the feeling that something's not right?" Ravage reminded the twins.

"We can work on it from here, can't we? We've got all Soundwave's tech." Rumble said.

"And I'm sure we can get out if we really need to. Remember the ceiling?"

Ravage nodded and Lazerbeak dipped his head once. The two of them had come up with that earlier on, but they'd also decided to work things so the twins think it was their own idea. The twins always worked better if they thought something was their own idea. It was settled now, and they had a lot of work to do. The feline and avian felt a sense of relief, though, that they had so much work; it would keep the twins occupied.

Twins always needed to be occupied, Con or Bot.

OoOoOoOoO

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were waiting outside the brig when Flareup got out.

She had mixed feelings about seeing them again. They were some of her best friends, but they'd convinced her to help them with some shenanigan, and it had landed her in the brig_ even though_ they'd said she wouldn't get caught.

Well, she should have known that Prowl was too sharp for her to slip anything past him. And Auri didn't help. Flareup had Auri as a little sister. Since Chromia was Flareup's mentor and Auri was Chromia's ward, is was only natural that the young femmes had become like sisters. Auri adored Flareup, and Flareup cared for her greatly. But, sometimes Auri's connection with Prowl made things difficult.

"We're sorry…?" Sunny offered something of an apology. Sides gave her a coaxing smile.

Flareup paused. "Alright." She said, hiding her smile, "I'll forgive you. But you'll have to be exceedingly convincing if you want me to help out next time you pull something, and it has to be several weeks from now. I'm not falling for anything any time soon."

"It's a deal." Sides said.

"Now," Sunny said, "To the pub. I hate brig Energon; I need some good stuff to clear it out."

"And we need news." Sides added, "We were locked four days; you _know_ we have to have missed something."

Flareup nodded, and the three of them headed towards the pub.

The walk to the brig was a nice one, but they were eager to get inside once they got to the door.

"Hey, Tracks." Flareup greeted, catching sight of the deep blue mech behind the counter.

"Hello," he replied as Flareup sat at the counter, "I'd begun to think you weren't coming back." He said with an almost flirtatious quirk of his lip, "Was there something wrong with the last Energon I served you?"

"We were in the brig and you know it." Sunny said, sitting down beside Flareup. Sides sat by his twin. They'd been in separate cells, and he'd not like that.

Tracks looked smug and took their orders.

"Hey, Tracks," Flareup said as he mixed the Energon, "What did we miss out on?"

Tracks glanced up. "Plenty," He said, feeling pleased about getting to break some news. He was going to go on, but Sides jumped up.

"Offspring of Unicron!" Sides half-shouted, his optics wide as he stared at his data-pad. "They- we- _We_ have Soundwave!"

"What?!" Sunny grabbed the data-pad and looked at it. His optics widened, and then he passed it to Flareup so she could see. Tracks felt quite cheated. He passed out their Energon and headed off to wipe clean tables.

"Tracks, is this for real?" Flareup asked before he could get too far.

"It certainly is." He said. He didn't feel quite so cheated now. "The Cons attacked Soundwave two days ago, and the Aerialbots chased them off. Elita took a ground team in and snatched him up. He's quite half-dead, but the medics are looking after him and say he'll live."

"Of all the things…" Sides marveled.

Sunny frowned. "And we didn't offline him because…?"

"Because he might have been defecting or he might have had valuable information. Really, anyone who the Cons shoot at, we want to question."

"Makes sense." Flareup said before taking a drink.

Tracks paused to give his next words a little more affect. "What doesn't make sense is Auri hanging around Med-Bay _all_ the time now." He said, and he was quite pleased with himself as he watched their reactions.

Flareup spewed her Energon back into it cube. She and Sides both looked shocked, but she looked a little mad as well and Sides looked slightly stupefied. Sunny just looked riled and mystified.

"Let's go see what this is about." He said, getting off his stool, his tone grim. His Energon wasn't half gone. Neither was Sides' Energon, but he followed his twin.

Flareup gulped down a little more Energon then set her cube down. "We'll be back for those." She told Tracks then went after the twins.

They drove to Med-Bay, Sunny in the lead. He kept under the speed limit, but Sides could feel his twin's anger. Sunny remembered quite clearly the day that Auri had wrecked on the mountain. Two Seekers had attacked him, Sides, and Bee, and Soundwave had tried to take Auri, wounded as she was. It enraged him that she was staying around such a mech. He knew she was a sympathetic little thing, but hanging by her would-be kidnapper was taking it too far. It had to be stopped.

They transformed at Med-Bay door, and Sides put a hand on Sunny's arm. "Keep cool, okay?" he said.

Sunny's optics narrowed, but he nodded. "Okay."

They went into the reception area and then entered the main Med-Bay room. First Aid looked up and looked slightly uneasy when he saw the twins, Sunny in particular.

"Hello," First Aid greeted, "I'm guessing you're here to see Auri?"

"Yep," Flareup said cheerfully before Sunny could say anything, giving him a smile. "Tracks said she'd probably be here. Is she?"

First Aid nodded. "I'll get her for you. Just… wait here."

Sunny crossed his arms but did as requested. Flareup stepped close to Sides to whisper something to him about his twin.

Auri came scampering in a few moments later. "You bad bots!" she greeted with delight, managing to hug both Flareup and Sides at once. "Naughty miscreants!" Prowl had taught her that word.

"Miss us?" Sides asked, grinning as he hugged her back.

"Course I did!" She let go of them and went to hug Sunny, but something about him stopped her. She looked up at him. "What's wrong, Sunny?" she asked, looking concerned.

He uncrossed his arms, and his hands went to his hips. "Word is Soundwave is Med-Bay's chief occupant and you are keeping him near constant company." There was no mistaking the disapproval in his tone.

She stepped back. "Course I am." She replied in a small voice, not quite hesitating, "You know why?"

"No. But I'd like to." Came the stern reply.

Auri paused. "Because he used to be my guardian." She said softly. The twins blinked. Flareup stared.

Flareup tried to say something, but she couldn't. Auri's disclosure was too shocking for words.

"Um…" Sides shifted one of his pedes, "Are you sure?"

Auri nodded, looking up at them. They were her most trusted friends after Prowl and Bee. And they were standing there with doubt and restraint in their optics. She felt like a wall had gone up between them. "Wh…" she wasn't sure what her question was. She was afraid, though. A couple of the other bots had already called her a Con-symp, a Decepticon sympathizer, and there had been something less than friendly in their tones. Were her friends going to turn on her like that? Reject her? The thought made her spark ache. "Do you hate me now?" she asked in a little voice.

Flareup gasped. "No! Auri, no." She dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around the younger femme and held her close. "You couldn't ever do anything to make me hate you. I was only stunned by the news. I never thought of Soundwave as the guardian type. I love you just as much as always. 'M sorry… I didn't mean to frighten you by saying nothing. I was only so shocked. Don't ever think I'll reject you." She held Auri so she could look her in the optics. "You hear?"

Auri nodded then hugged her. "I hear." She said, and Flareup hugged gently, giving the twins a reproachful look over Auri's shoulder.

"Same goes for us." Sides said gently, coming close and putting a hand on Auri's shoulder. "All of it."

Auri stepped back from Flareup and looked at him, finding deep sincerity in his optics. As their optics met, he saw how vulnerable she was, and it made his spark ache. He hugged her close and held her. "I'm sorry we freaked out on you." He said softly.

"It's okay." She answered, resting her head against him. "I'm just glad you're not upset at me."

He cuddled her and looked over at his twin. His twin was raging inwardly. Auri didn't deserve a monster like Soundwave showing up as her guardian. Auri needed love and nurture, not a Decepticon. Auri shouldn't have to suffer that.

Auri looked over at Sunny, questions in her optics.

"I second what Sides and Flareup said." He said quietly, "I need to go now, though. But I'll come back and see you later, alright?"

Auri nodded.

He took a few steps toward the door then stopped and went back to Auri and gave her a hug. Then he left quickly.

"He's really mad about Soundwave, isn't he?" Auri asked Sides.

Sides nodded. "I'm afraid so. He's mad _for_ you, though. Not _at_ you."

Auri shook her head, looking puzzled. "He doesn't need to be."

Flareup and Sides met each others' optics. If only that was true. It wouldn't be, though. Auri would need a lot of defending once word got out that Soundwave had been her guardian. She would need support and comfort and bots who would listen to her and who would hold her when she needed to cry. They would be those bots for her, though. They would help look after her. And they knew others would, too.

OoOoOoOoO

It was the second day without Auri in his office, and by lunchtime Prowl found himself missing her a great deal. He missed lunches with her, the Praxian dialect lessons, especially. She worked so hard to pronounce words correctly, and it was endearing to see her grin happily once she finally got a word right. He missed those sweet little triumphs.

He fingered his Energon cube and told himself to get over it. He made himself pull up a puzzle on his computer, and he studied it while he sipped his Energon.

He finished both his Energon and the puzzle, and then eyed the clock. Time had dragged and was dragging. He still had time left on his lunch break. If only…

His wings flicked up in surprise as Auri came in. A wish come true immediately! Delight welled up in his spark and it was hard to hide away the smile that came with it.

Auri grinned when she saw the happy sparkle in his optics.

Then she made her face serious. "Ratchet sent me to spy on you, so I hope you are not working." She said; her tone was firm, but her optics were lightly teasing.

"I was working on a puzzle." Prowl said, "Does that count?" he asked. He knew it didn't.

"Mm…" she came over to his side of the desk and looked at the puzzle. He watched her face as she played through different things she could. "Well, I _suppose_ I won't report you this time." She said, optics twinkling at her pretend severity.

"I am very much obliged." Prowl said earnestly, widening his optics in relief.

This made Auri laugh outright. "Oh, Prowl!" she said, clearly delighted, "You are very good at play-acting when you want to be."

Prowl didn't entirely repress the smile that came at her praise. "Thank-you," he said.

She smiled happily and then went back to the other side of his desk. "Ratchet really just wanted me out from under his pedes for a little while and said lunch break was as good a time as any. And he said you might like some company."

Prowl suddenly remember that he'd told himself 'no.' Then he had mixed feelings about Ratchet sending Auri to visit him, and he had no idea which one to express. "Well." He said.

"I guess you have already finished lunch." Auri said, looking over at the empty cube on his desk.

Prowl nodded. "I have. Have you?"

"Well… not exactly. But I'm not hungry." She said. Prowl gave her a slight frown of concern, and then she explained with a smile. "I had a late breakfast, snacks with Sides and Flareup, Jolt sneaked me some copper-candy, and Mirage brought me a delightfully fluffy alloy-pretzel when he stopped by."

"Ah. I see now." He said, pushing away negative thoughts about Mirage.

"It was delicious pretzel," Auri said happily,

"Would you like to go to the beach for forty minutes?"

"I would love that!" Auri was quickly diverted from the topic of the pretzel, and Prowl was content.

Prowl put his computer into sleep mode and set the telephone answering-machine to the 'I am away right now; press one for…' message. A couple moments later, he was stepping out into the sunshine after Auri and locking the door to his office.

"Isn't it a pretty day?" Auri asked, spreading her hands out. The sunlight fell on them and sparkled on the armoring, glinting and making it glow and shimmer.

"Very pretty." Prowl said. Then he mentally slapped himself.

Auri skipped a little and then started to talk about the twins and Flareup as they walked. Prowl listened attentively, knowing that she needed to be listened to.

When they got to the beach, Auri motioned to a slight mound of sand. "That's all that's left of the sandcastle Chromia and I made yesterday." She said, "But it was a nice one."

"I am sure."

"_She_ was helpful, though." Auri said matter-of-factly, giving the staid mech a bit of an impudent smile as they walked along the seashore.

"Oh, now." Prowl protested lightly, "I design the things for you, and I bring you buckets of wet sand, and I find the stones and seashells and bits of driftwood that you order. Is that not helpful?"

Auri giggled with delight but decided to continue her playful rebuke. "You never lift a finger to actually build them, though. Not once have you packed a bit of sand on a castle."

"I found that nice plank of driftwood for the moat bridge that you wanted, though." Prowl said, feeling just a little silly.

"But you refuse to bring me seaweed when I ask for it." Auri said sternly.

"I don't like seaweed, though." He widened his optics in an expression of innocence.

"That is not a valid excuse for disobedience, Prowl."

Prowl felt his spark laughing with delight, and then he wanted to hug her and tell her what a silly adorable femme she was.

"Prowl-?" She asked suddenly, her tone eager, "Can we go to the far side of the island?" she sounded almost excited.

He halted and thought about that. They never went to the far side of the island because it was farthest away from the city. It was guarded, but it was more vulnerable to attack. He never went there with Auri because he'd deemed it not safe enough for her. He shook his head.

"But, Prowl," Auri said eagerly, "The only reason we never went was because of Soundwave. We only didn't go because he could kidnap me more easily there, but now we know."

Prowl paused. That was true…

"Please?" she coaxed, putting her darling fingertips on his arm, "Please? I've been wanting to see what it looked like for a while now. Could we just go just briefly?"

Prowl nodded. "Alright." He conceded, and he was well rewarded by her grin of delight as she skipped a little. They walked up from the beach to the beach road, which ran along the edge of the beach. Then they transformed and drove. Actually, they raced. It wasn't a serious race, but it was a little bit of a race.

Auri slowed, though, once they came to unknown territory. Then she stopped and transformed, looking around with wonder. Prowl transformed as well and glanced around slowly. He'd seen it all before, but he knew Auri would find something wonderful to show him. Auri was clearly delighted. There were differences in the sand and in the slope of the shore, and there were more rocks, and, and, and…!

Prowl listened to her exclamations of delighted discovery with a great deal of contentment.

"Even more rocks up ahead! Oh, Prowl! Does it turn completely to rock by the end of the island?!"

"There is a stretch ahead that is completely rock." Prowl answered then he picked up his pace as Auri ran ahead.

"Oh, this is so cool!" Auri went over to the edge of the rocks. "Prowl! Are there tide pools down there?"

Prowl paused. "I do not actually know," He said, peering down.

"Ooooo! I think there are-!" she sat on the edge then began to climb down. "I've never seen tide pools before," She climbed carefully, scanning each handhold and foothold she saw before putting weight on it. She'd not climbed rocks very much, but she knew the dangers of not going carefully.

She was half way down when Prowl's order came from above.

"Auri. Stop. Climb up now."

Auri paused and looked up. All she could see was the tip of his wing.

"We just got here, Prowl." She said, "And we have fifteen more minutes. We don't have to look for tide pools if you don't want to." She didn't want him to make her leave just because he didn't want to climb rocks to find tide pools.

"This is not about tide pools. Climb up _now_. We are going." There was a sharpness to his tone, an edge that she only heard when he was giving orders in a tense situation. It scared her a little and moved her to action. She climbed up hurriedly, and she gasped at the top when he reached down and grabbed her arm, dragging her up quickly.

"Go back to the city." He ordered as he steadied her. "Fast."

"Awwww, now." Someone called reproachfully.

Auri gave a little scream of terror when she saw the purple and black Seeker. She ducked behind Prowl.

"Go." Prowl ordered her, but she stayed.

"That's not very nice, spoiling a little femme's outing." The Seeker said.

Auri gasped as another Seeker, a blue one, came hurrying on foot from farther off. He stopped when he got to the purple Seeker.

"Skywarp," he didn't sound pleased, "We said I would do the talking."

"Auri, get back to the city." Prowl growled to her quietly. "You go right now."

"No. Not leaving you alone."

"I apologize if we startled you," the blue Seeker said, sounding honest, addressing Prowl and holding up a truce-sign. "We come with peaceful intentions and just want to ask a couple questions."

"If you merely had questions, why did you not contact us via a tele-communicator, Thundercracker?" Prowl challenged, optics narrowing.

"Ours is rather… public, and these questions are confidential." Thundercracker replied.

Prowl paused. Then he glanced at Auri, who was peeking at the Seekers now. "Auri, go tell Elita we have some communications that need handling."

"No. You intercom her." Auri said, planting her pedes.

Prowl fought to control the unspeakable rage that threatened to fill him, and he won. "If you will wait a minute," he said calmly to the Seekers, "A security team will be here to assist you with getting your questions answered."

"Thank-you." Thundercracker replied with a slight nod.

Prowl stood there, braced, body and wings taunt, hands ready to pull weapons in a split-second. Auri looked at the Seekers watchfully. They were two of the Seekers who'd attacked her welcome party when she'd first arrived on earth. And that purple one had tried to grab her.

"Cute little shadow you have, Prowl," Skywarp said conversationally, and Auri ducked behind Prowl again. "W-"

Thundercracker pulled the purple Con's wing. "Don't." he ordered.

A number of uncomfortable seconds followed, and then three Aerialbots showed up.

"Peaceful intentions, is it?" Silverbolt asked, the Aerialbots' leader asked, nodding to the truce-sign.

"Yes." Thundercracker said, "We just have a couple confidential questions about Soundwave."

Prowl lead Auri away, his fingers locked tightly around her upper arm. She made a quiet sound of discomfort, but he made no response to it.

"You're hurting me," she whimpered when she stumbled onto the road. Prowl let go.

"Transform and follow." He ordered, and Auri thought he was going to kill her. She'd never heard that degree of cold contained rage in his tone before, and the icy fury in his optics sent chills through her whole being.

She felt tears welling up in her optics, but she willed them away and made herself transform. Prowl had transformed by the time she was in car-mode, and then he pulled forwards. She followed. She didn't even notice when they passed several Bots going the other way, Chromia among them.

OoOoOoOoO

"Confidential questions for whom?" Silverbolt asked Thundercracker. "And confidential _from_ whom?" The three Aerialbots were facing the two Cons, both parties keeping a respectful distance. Fireflight and Slingshot stood to either side of Silverbolt. Several other bots in vehicle mode pulled up and parked on the road.

"The questions are for," Thundercracker paused, "Your medic. And we do not wish the other Decepticons to find out that we were here or that we asked."

"You're the ones who attacked Soundwave." Fireflight said shrewdly, having been studying the two during the exchange of words.

"Yes." Thundercracker replied, "You Bots interrupted our assassination."

"Oho!" Slingshot triumphed, "You're coming to ask if he's quite dead!"

"Is he?" Skywarp asked.

"We've not been told." Slingshot replied loftily, "In fact, most of the base doesn't even know that we picked him up." He lied glibly.

Skywarp chuckled. "And I thought we Cons were bad about sharing news."

"Well,"

"Slingshot," Silverbolt said, "That's enough. Thundercracker, I've intercommed our medic, and he said Soundwave held on for a short period of time but did not survive due to a virus. He has the medical report and readings available if you like."

A gleeful grin spread across Skywarp's face, and he swore happily.

"That would be most appreciated." Thundercracker said, looking relieved.

Silverbolt paused to intercom then he nodded. "He'll be out here in a few minutes."

"Wish our medic was that obliging!" Skywarp told Thundercracker, quite delighted at their victory and too carefree to mind the Autobots' presence.

"We could always defect." Thundercracker joked.

Skywarp hooted. "That'll be the day. I wouldn't join these pathetic excuses for Cybertronians if you _paid_ me to."

"Every Decepticon has his price, I believe." Slingshot said.

"Like Autobots can't be bought off?" Skywarp sneered, "I'll have you know that Bots have their prices as well."

They traded insults for a little bit, and then Ratchet came driving up.

"Hey-hey!" Skywarp cheered when he recognized the emergency vehicle, "I'm glad now that I didn't kill you last time we met."

Ratchet transformed and didn't reply to that. He stood and looked at Thundercracker for a couple moments, and then he motioned him over.

"We meet halfway." He told the Con.

Thundercracker nodded, and he walked forward to meet Ratchet. He halted as Ratchet neared, and he held out his hand for the data-chip.

"Why so obliging?" Thundercracker asked.

Ratchet met his optics. "I know it's a treat-or-trick deal with you mechs. You would harass and hector us if we didn't hand over the intel, or maybe you would cause trouble. We don't need that. And it doesn't hurt us to tell you that one of your own is dead." The medic halfway smiled then. "In fact, it's a little gratifying. He _was_ one of your best."

Thundercracker fought back a guilty look. "Just hand it over." He said curtly.

Ratchet dropped the chip into his hand.

He took it and plugged it into a spare data-pad, accessed the content and looked at it.

"Well?!" Skywarp called impatiently.

"It's just what we want." Thundercracker called back, turning his head towards his trine-member. Then he looked back to Ratchet.

"Any more questions?" the medic asked.

Thundercracker shook his head. "No." He said. "Thank-you." He turned, and he actually turned his back towards the Autobots as he walked back to Skywarp. He had what they needed. It was time to go. He hated his past decisions. He glanced back and saw Ratchet walking back to the Aerialbots. Now wasn't the time. The time would come one day, though. For now, he would just go back to the _Nemesis_ with Skywarp and do his duties as a Con.

Skywarp took the data-pad and exulted over the victory of his virus, and then Thundercracker took it back and put it away. "Let's go." He said, and then they flew off.

Once the Cons were well out of sight, Silverbolt gave Ratchet a curious look. Ratchet smiled. "It's not the first time I've faked someone's death." He said.

OoOoOoOoO

Auri was fairly shaking with fear by the time they reached the edge of the city. Had she been in bipedal mode, her wings would have been trembling dreadfully. Never, ever, _ever_ in her whole two years on earth had she seen Prowl so mad. There had been one time that had come close, and the twins had ended up in Med-Bay after suffering his wrath. He wouldn't hit her, would he? She didn't know, and that scared her. Bots did bad things they wouldn't usually do when they got that mad.

She trusted Prowl with her whole spark, but now she was terrified of him. She wanted to curl up and die.

Prowl stopped and transformed, and Auri transformed as he went to the office door. He opened the door, and she went in, hurrying so it wouldn't be obvious how badly her wings were shaking. Once she was standing indoors, though, nothing could hide how much she was trembling. And she couldn't look at Prowl. She was afraid she would die if his optics caught hers.

She stood, waiting for his rage to crash down on her, and tears filled her optics, blinding her. Some ran down her cheeks, but she couldn't get her hands to move to wipe them away.

Then she heard someone say softly, "Oh, no, don't cry," the tone was gentle with regret, "Don't cry, Auri." She realized that it was Prowl's voice as Prowl put an arm around her. His hand was gentle on her back. Then there was another hand on the back of her shoulder. Both hands. And one of them had bruised her arm.

"Why did you act like that?" she reproached through her tears.

"I nearly lost my temper," Prowl said regretfully, "I've calmed down now, though. I calmed down on the drive here. I never, _never_ should have spoken to you in the tone that I did back there. That was wrong of me, and I apologize." He paused, "I need to talk to you once… you've calmed down as well."

She sniffled. "Okay." She said softly. "And you won't hurt me?"

"I would never hurt you intentionally." He promised.

"You bruised my arm." She reproached. The hand on her shoulder moved, and gentle fingers touched her arm below where it was bruised.

"I am so sorry, Aurion." He paused then let go of her to take a small container from subspace. "Here," he said gently, "This rubs on, and it eases the pain of a bruise."

Auri sniffled again and smudged the tears from her optics then loosened her arm armoring and bared her upper arm.

Prowl was going to hold out the container so she could put her fingers is the salve, but then he realized that she thought he was going to apply it. He paused. Then slowly he ran two fingertips across the top of the salve, getting a bit on them. Then he moved so he was standing at a comfortable angle to Auri and carefully touched the salve to her bare arm. She flinched a tiny bit but didn't say anything.

Gently, and cautiously, Prowl smoothed the salve over the bruise, his fingers just brushing Auri's arm.

"There," he softly when he was done.

Auri put the armor back in place. "Thank-you," she said, sounding a little shy, "It feels better now."

Prowl put the lid back on the salve and put it back in subspace.

Auri ventured to meet his optics. "I think I'm calm now." She said, "We can talk…"

Prowl looked a little stalled for words, but he nodded.

Pause.

"Auri…" he paused again, "I'm… I'm sorry, but this is a reprimand." He said reluctantly.

She nodded her understanding.

"I told you to go back to the city _four_ times, and you outright disobeyed my orders." He wasn't using his usual reprimanding tone, but a gentle stern tone. "With _Cons_ present. I ordered you to go back so you would be safe, and so I could do my duty without having to worry about your well-being. Had those Cons come with other intentions, we _both_ could have been injured, killed, or worse. When I give an order, Auri, it is for a reason, and it is for your good. You needed to go back. Had there been an attack, I would have protected you, and I would not have been able to engage and fight the Cons well; that would have made _both_ of us vulnerable. You said you weren't going to leave me alone, but _trust me_, I would sooner fight alone than I have you in danger. Do not _ever_ disobey me like that again. Is that clear?"

Auri nodded. "Yes, Commander." She said softly. She found that she wasn't as shaken at his rebuke as she'd thought she would be. That's not to say that it didn't hurt. It did hurt. It made her spark ache quite a bit. But… perhaps it was because she had been so terrified earlier that it didn't seem so bad.

"I also owe you an apology." Prowl said, sounding humble.

She looked at him curiously. "You already apologized for speaking harshly, hurting my arm, and reprimanding me. What else is there?"

"I must apologize for letting… for... nnn…" he sighed. He paused to figure out what to say. "I like it when you are happy, and you really wanted to go to the far side of the island… no… This is not coming out right." He frowned. He couldn't figure what he was trying to say. He knew what he wanted to say, but the wording wouldn't come out. "I… nevermind the details. I should not have let you coax me into taking you to the far side of the island. I jeopardized your well-being because I wanted to please you, and I should _not_ have done that. I apologize for letting you into that situation."

"Apology accepted." Auri said gently. "I shouldn't have coaxed."

Prowl nodded.

"You don't have to agree with me so quickly," Auri found herself giggling then, and it felt good. The tension scattered away on her laughter.

Prowl's tension seemed to leave a little, too; a hint of a smile touched the corner of him mouth, and his optics softened just a tiny bit.

Then Auri looked down. "I guess lunch hour is over." She said reluctantly.

"You could stay and work a little while." Prowl offered, hoping she would accept.

"I… I do not know. I want to stay, but I also want to go back to Soundwave."

Prowl's spark wanted him to coax her to stay. The events of the lunch hour had made it clear to him, though, that he had to step away and not let his spark get into his head. He waited while she debated within herself.

Then both wingers looked over quickly when the door banged open.

"Hey…" Chromia greeted, suddenly looking nonchalant. Prowl was on alert instantly but didn't show it.

"Hello," He replied welcomingly, but his battle systems booted up, particularly the ones specializing in evasive maneuvers. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah…" Chromia's optics sifted over to Auri. "It can wait, though. I wouldn't want to interrupt you two."

"Oh, I was just about to leave." Auri said. Prowl's spark sank. "I'll see you later, Prowl." Auri told him, going over and giving him a light hug.

Prowl saw how Chromia's optics glittered dangerously once Auri's back was turned. There were three quick ways to get out of the building. Chromia would be blocking one, the front door. The back door would take a moment to get open, and she would get him before he got it open. The other way out was the big window at the other end of the room.

Auri was giving Chromia a hug now and telling her that she would see her later, too.

Chromia and Prowl watched Auri leave. The door closed. The instant it clicked shut, Chromia whirled toward Prowl.

"Wait-!" Prowl held his hands up and slowly took a step backward, "She's still within hearing range. Wait twenty seconds."

Those were some of the longest seconds Prowl had experienced.

Three.

Two.

One.

Chromia charged Prowl, and Prowl sprinted towards the window. Chromia tore after him.

Coming to the window, Prowl judged the distance and leapt, throwing himself sideways into the window, shattering it. The glass flew. Prowl transformed as he fell, and he landed in car mode. The second he had two wheels on the ground, he bolted down the street, siren screaming to warn everybody to get out of the way.

Brig. He had to get to the brig. That was the tried and true solution, the only way a mech could save himself from Chromia. Ratchet had done it. Sideswipe had done it. Others had done it. Now he was doing it. He'd be embarrassed about it later, but now he was too concerned about saving himself from Chromia.

He didn't even know what Chromia was coming after him for. She was coming, though. Stop signs and speed limits didn't mean a thing to her when she was in pursuit. Prowl swerved around a corner and blasted down another street.

"PROWL! GO LEFT!" Magnus yelled as Prowl shot past him. Magnus growled softly when he realized that Prowl hadn't heard him. He should have intercommed, he realized, but now it was too late. The intersection Prowl was heading for was laid out like a capital "T"; it came to an end with the options of a left turn and a right turn, no straight ahead. Prowl had to be heading for the brig, so he would be taking the right turn, but there was roadwork being done there. He wouldn't get through. And Chromia would get him. Magnus grimaced and ran after them.

Prowl careened around the corner and saw the orange warning signs. _THAT_ was what Magnus had been yelling about. Prowl swerved and jumped the curb and crashed through the massive glass windows of one of the humans' buildings, bursting into the lobby in a shower of glass. He made for the double doors with squealing tires. The three people in the lobby had all been at the front desk, and now they were behind the front desk. Prowl smashed through the doors as Chromia entered the lobby.

Magnus dove out of the way.

Prowl swerved into an alley, smashed a dumpster, scattering trash, and careened back onto a more major road again.

He was wrecking the place, he realized. He wasn't going to back it to the brig without more damage, either. And then what? What would happen once he was safely behind bars? Chromia would rant at him and yell and curse. Her fury would not decrease, though. She would rage like an imprisoned wild thing.

He needed to wear her out, tire her to the point that she would be more inclined to talk than to hit.

He swerved and set a course for the beach road. He considered the racetrack, but that was too confined. The beach road would give them miles and miles of open space, and no shortcuts. Plus, there wasn't much out there that they could damage, other than themselves or each other.

Suddenly, Prowl realized what Chromia was after him for. _She_ had been one of the bots in the ground team that had responded to the Seekers. She had seen him escorting Auri away. That wasn't good.

Prowl made it to the beach road and really took off once he hit the straighter stretch of road, getting a head start he would need.

Chromia came moments later.

After several hard and fast miles, Prowl had had a little while to think, and he decided that he'd try intercomming Chromia.

::Chromia,::

He winced at the string of curse words that came back at him.

::I know you are angry, and I understand.:: he told her.

::'_Angry_' don't even begin to describe it, you-:: Chromia shot back at him, calling him some unpleasant things.

::It was a mistake that I will not make again.:: Prowl said earnestly.

Chromia's answer wasn't nice, and Prowl could feel her fury and malevolence over the comm..

Prowl tried several different ways of reasoning with her and several different tactics to get her to calm down, but none of them worked. In fact, he could almost say he felt her getting even more enraged.

Slowly, then, Prowl realized that it wasn't just _him_ that Chromia was enraged at. It was 'everything.' A whole slew of things had happened that would upset her, and he had just been the crowning one, the 'last straw,' as humans put it. She needed to get her rage out of her system, and Prowl had inadvertently made himself the target.

She wouldn't settle down until she'd hit someone. If he got away, she would just stew until a new target appeared. There were few who understood Chromia; he would never understand her fully, but he understood her better than most.

Prowl slowed. He would take the blows so she could cool off.

Chromia pulled up beside him and rammed him off the road, sending him rolling into the seaside grasses. He saw her transform, and he transformed as she came charging towards him. He braced for impact, and she slammed him into the ground.

The beating that followed not a nice one. She slammed her fists into him repeatedly for a while, striking where they would hurt the most -the door-wings, the mid-back, the sides, the shoulder jointing- repeatedly. Then, once her knuckles were sore, she got up and kicked him again and again.

Prowl kept his mouth shut, his jaws tightly clenched, and his head down, tucked against the earth. Some of the blows made him flinch, but he held still for most of them. When Chromia started kicking, though, he gasped in pain when her foot struck his already bruised side. He arched his back in discomfort as she left bruises on his legs and backside.

Then he howled as her foot slammed into his back, right at his sensitive door-wing connectors. "Chromia-!" he cried. The next blow didn't come. Then his tightly shut optics relaxed, and his body went limp. The pain faded.

Prowl found himself waking up a few minutes later and realized that he'd blacked out. He heard a femme crying nearby, sobbing with remorse. The pain from Chromia's beating began to awaken as the rest of his system came online, and he bit back a groan. There were more important things than him. He had to find out who was crying and why and comfort her. There was enough sadness in the world that they didn't need a femme crying.

He onlined his optics and turned his head, and he was surprised to find that Chromia was the only femme in sight. Prowl felt almost confused. Chromia didn't cry… he'd never seen her cry, or heard of her crying. Elita had cried a couple times in her life, but Chromia…? Prowl studied her. She was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms hugging her legs, and her face hidden. And she was crying quite bitterly.

Prowl moved to get up then felt dizzy at the pain his sudden movement had brought on. He calmed his mind then moved slowly, cautiously sitting up. He flinched, but he moved over to Chromia, creeping over. Then he sat to her side, facing her; her back was to the west, and his was to the east, that sort of facing.

Carefully, Prowl reached out and touched her arm. She flinched, and the sobs came a little harder.

Prowl scooted a little closer. "Chromia, it's alright," now his hand was on her hand, and his other hand was on her shoulder, gently rubbing. "Sh-shhh…" he hushed gently, "I don't hold it against you, Chromia. I don't."

"Well- I- do-" she choked out between sobs.

Prowl scooted just a little bit closer, his side was almost touching her leg now, and he put his arm around hers a little. "Why do you hold against yourself?" he asked gently, "I was the one who made you mad. I endangered Auri by agreeing to take her to the far end of the island; it is only just that I should be punished for endangering her."

"Not- so-" Chromia choked out, "N-not –s-so b-add-l-ly." She sobbed.

"I knew you were mad about other things," Prowl told her gently, "I knew I would be suffering for them, but I chose to let you take me down. I could have run back and gotten to safety, but I didn't."

Chromia just cried more.

Prowl sighed. "When Auri gets upset, she needs someone to listen. When you get upset, you need someone to hit. There are not a lot who understand that, Chromia, but I do."

This only seemed to upset Chromia more, so Prowl decided that he should keep his mouth shut until further notice.

He hesitated, and then he snuggled Chromia, putting his arms around her gently and holding her. He wondered minutely if he'd lost his mind. Or if Chromia had lost hers. He didn't embrace other bots… well, except Auri if she _really_ needed it. And Chromia for sure didn't let any mech but Ironhide touch her. Unless she was dancing with one of the twins, and those were only the politest of touches. No snuggles. No cuddles. And here they were: him snuggling Chromia.

"I wanna be _dead_." Chromia sobbed after a while.

"No," Prowl told her gently, "Don't say that. We would all be devastated if we didn't have you. Auri loves you, as does Ironhide. You're Elita's best friend and best warrior. Prime values you greatly and cares much for you. Ratchet cares deeply about you, despite how he acts. Bee and I would miss you horribly if you were gone. Things would be turned upside down if we didn't have, so don't talk like that."

"'M- horrible. I- h-hate me."

"You have faults, as do _all_ of us, but you're not horrible. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone loses their temper. I lost my temper to a small degree this afternoon."

"Stop trying to make me feel better-!" she choked out, "Don't deserve it-"

"You don't deserve to be miserable, though." Prowl argued gently. "You have so much love and care and feeling. Your only fault is caring so much that you overreact to protect and defend."

"If- only-!" she'd stopped crying now.

"It's true." Prowl said firmly, and he believed it.

"No, _it's_ NOT!"

"I think if you trace everything far back enough, it is."

"Go away."

"No." Prowl told her. "I'm staying."

She seemed to resist for a moment, but then she broke down and started to cry again. "Oh, Prowl…"

He hugged her a little more.

"I _am_ horrible." She cried.

"Why?" Prowl decided that might work better than trying to reason against her.

"Of _all_ the mechs on the base, after Ironhide, I trust you the most, _And_ I like you the best."

This was surprising news, but pleasant.

"And _what_ did I do to you? I thrashed you like Con underling. All that. And you _took_ it. You- you-! You _always_ take whatever gets thrown your way. You always handle it. You always do what you know has to be done. You tough it out when it's rough, no weakness in you."

Prowl shifted his optics. He and Chromia were still the only ones around, but he didn't see the mech Chromia was describing. Then again, Chromia hadn't seen herself as what he'd described.

"I don't think I'm all that." he contradicted gently,

"No, you don't. Because _you_ are not prideful. _I_ have been cocky my whole xxxx life."

Prowl rubbed the femme's arm gently. "Once Ironhide told me more about you, and I got to know you a tiny bit better, I saw the cockiness as a way to hide your true feelings. I think you care a lot, Chromia, and are afraid of it."

"M-maybe…"

"Well… I'm afraid of _my_ feelings. I do not see why you couldn't be afraid of yours."

"Ohhhhhh… Prowl." She groaned. Then she sighed. "I've made such a mess."

"As I recall, it was a black and white patrol car who smashed through several windows and a set of doors, not a sky blue drag racer."

Chromia halfway laughed a dry remorseful laugh then lifted her head to look at him. "He wouldn't have done so if I'd not been chasing him."

"That's debatable." Prowl stated with a straight face, "Who knows? He may have been repressing the urge to smash those windows for a while and never had a proper reason."

Chromia wrinkled her face and then started to laugh as tears filled her optics again. She hid her face. "You…" she paused to sniffle, "You silly." She chuckled softly then sighed, and Prowl could tell that he'd gotten her to start feeling a little better.

They sat together in silence for a little while, and then Chromia put her head up again and looked thoughtfully at Prowl.

"Thank-you." She said softly.

Prowl nodded, his optics sincere.

She looked down. "And, I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Prowl told her, rubbing her arm gently. "It's behind us now. All forgiven."

"I don't deserve-"

"No." Prowl said firmly.

Chromia was quiet then. A few minutes passed, and everything calmed. Then Chromia shifted. "Ironhide told me to lay off you and Auri –as a… well, he told me not to push you two together. He said… you still need time to heal from the past, and that someday you might be ready to love. I feel I need to apologize for the 'pushing' I've done in the past." She paused. "You… um… Prowl… I really hate mechs. Except Ironhide. And Prime's okay. Magnus… eh. Ratchet… meh. And Bee's still a mech-ling in my mind. But you… you're… Prowl, you are a good mech. You're acceptable… no, you're more than acceptable. You're worthy. Praiseworthy."

Prowl found himself blinking a little as he processed all this.

"And I like you." Chromia added.

Prowl was completely at a loss for words then. And somehow Chromia had melted his spark, too.

"Don't glitch out on me, Prowl." Chromia coaxed, "I know I've been awful and contradictory, but don't glitch out."

Prowl gave her a bit of a smile then. "I wasn't going to. I… just… was looking for… some words… I can't think of any."

"You could say, 'What on earth, femme? You beat me like Con and then say you like me? Your head's glitching messed up.'"

"That wouldn't be very nice." Prowl said, "And I do not think your head messed up. Anymore more than mine is." He added deliberately. He knew she thought his head wasn't all there all the time.

"Umm…."

Prowl chuckled softly at her.

She smiled then and shifted to hug him. She hugged carefully, mindful of how bruised his back was, and then she sat back. She paused. "We should probably go back before Magnus decides I'm hiding your body."

Prowl half chuckled and half winced at that. "We should." He wasn't sure why he smiled when he said that, but he did.

Chromia got up and gently helped Prowl to his feet. Then they slowly walked together towards the beach road. Prowl felt closer to Chromia now, as if he knew her better. He also felt a sense of wonder, now knowing what she thought of him. It almost didn't seem real.

He looked over at her curiously. "I'm… acceptable… worthy… and… you like me?" he asked uncertainly.

Chromia nodded. "Yep." She said gently. She looked over and let Prowl see the softness that was in her optics.

Prowl considered this. She thought _all_ that of him. _And_ she liked him. She, the femme he feared and admired. Suddenly, he felt happy. He almost felt like flitting his wings for joy; Chromia thought well of him far beyond his imagination _and_ she liked him. Why, it was worth the beating just to learn that! The bruises wouldn't last long, but he would remember her words of praise for a long time, perhaps forever.

* * *

Good fluffs! Dear Chromia, now Prowl's quite happy.

Okay, everybody, next chapter... someone's going to be opening his red optics. ;)


	13. Chapter 13

Hello, beautiful people! **I was going to post on ****Monday****!**I promise, I was. I had the chapter all ready, and I was all hyped up to post it for you all, and then I got a text. The girl was going to work Monday was sick, and they needed me to fill in for her. So, I put on my superhero clothes and went and spent the day at work. And the library was quite closed by the time I got back home, so I couldn't post! Anyways, here it is now. And it's a long one! ;) 7,800+ words.

Also, thank-you all so much for all the lovely reviews on last chapter! The library closes in roughly an hour, so I might not get replies out... but I do love and appreciate every review!

* * *

Chapter 13

"Here comes Ultra Magnus." Chromia said with a sudden tone of dread, pulling Prowl off the clouds that he'd been walking on. "Two things," she said in a low voice, "One, he's gonna kill me. And, two, what took him so long to find us?"

"One," Prowl replied, "He is not going to kill you, and, two, I am sure he has a valid reason."

Magnus transformed into bipedal mode and stalked towards them. His paint was scuffed in several places from diving out of their way during the chase. Prowl thought it retrospect, that that actually would have been rather funny to see. Then he flicked his wings as he realized that that was quite an Auri-like thought.

Chromia crossed her arms.

"Hello, Magnus," Prowl greeted the tall mech.

"Hello…" Magnus's optics took in the dents and scuffs on Prowl's armor and the rawness of Chromia's knuckles.

"We are fine now," Prowl said, but Magnus's look darkened.

"Is that what you think?" he asked,

Prowl looked sideways.

"Auri is completely upset." Magnus ground out as his fists clenched, "Thanks to you two."

Prowl stepped back. One beating a day was plenty. Chromia looked sullen and looked away, turning her body slightly away from Magnus.

Magnus paused and made himself calm down. Everybody was a little tense these days, himself included. He needed to keep a level head, though. Clearly, Prowl and Chromia were already on the defensive, so getting mad at them wouldn't help anything. It had only been recently that Chromia had warmed up to him; she'd met him back when she'd met Ironhide, so it had taken a long, long time for her to warm up. He didn't want to spoil that. And Prowl could get complicated and hissy when antagonized, and that would be any fun to deal with.

Magnus uncurled his fists and sighed. His anger left him as he realized how more stress _they_ had to be under. It paled in comparison to what he was feeling.

"I sort of lied." He said humbly, "She _was_ very upset, but she isn't now. She heard your siren, Prowl, and came running after you and Chromia. She was upset by the time she got to me and rather had a meltdown because she couldn't catch up, and she was sure Chromia was going to kill you for some reason. I calmed her down and carried her back to Med-Bay. She seemed okay when I left, but… Are you alright, Prowl?"

Prowl was looking a little unfocused.

"My… my immune system is… is… acting oddly."

Chromia looked over at him. "It's reacting to the earth glass." She said, "You transform in a shower of glass, you get glass caught in your body. The Cybertronian immune system has a fit about earth glass. A couple good baths and showers will get most of the glass out, but not all. You'll get a fever, some nausea, low energy. And then after a couple days, your system will have taken care of the glass, and you'll feel better."

Prowl blinked as he processed that.

"You're not the first mech who's jumped through a window on earth and transformed." Chromia explained.

"Ah." Prowl said dully.

Chromia paused, "Actually, Ratchet might have something to help you feel better."

Prowl didn't exactly want to go to Med-Bay. Now that he knew what was making him feel bad and that it wasn't serious, he just wanted to go back to his office and work.

"Go to Med-Bay." Magnus said, and it wasn't a suggestion. "Actually, Chromia, you take him."

Chromia didn't say anything to Magnus, but she put a hand on Prowl's shoulder. "Come on, Prowler" she said gently.

They walked to Med-Bay, and Prowl hesitated at the door.

"I'll scout ahead for you." Chromia said, opening the door. "Reception area's clear." They went in.

Chromia peered into the main room. "Clear." She said, and motioned Prowl to go in. She went in with him. "Ratchet-?" she called cautiously. Little waves of trilph withdrawal were starting lick at her ankles; she didn't want to venture further into Med-Bay.

Auri came running out, her face looking like a storm cloud. "YOU HURT MY PROWL!" she yelled, charging her femme-guardian. "YOU HURT HIM!" A little fist slammed into Chromia's side. It streaked Chromia's paint, but it didn't cause any damage, _physically_. Emotionally, though, Chromia felt her spark break. She had betrayed Auri awfully by hurting Prowl, she realized.

"Auri, Auri," Prowl reproached, coming close and stilling the angry little fists with his hands. "Calm down. She couldn't have hurt me unless I had allowed it."

Auri stopped and stared up at him like a confused sparkling. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I say." Prowl said as Ratchet came in. "Chromia could not have hurt me unless I let her. I am a skilled tactician, you know, swift and cunning at evasive tactics. I could have quickly and easily knocked Chromia out with my stun-gun, but I chose to lead her out of the town and let her unleash her anger on me. She needed the outlet. Punching and kicking are her releases just as talking and crying are yours. Ideally, she would use a punching bag, but sometimes a mech works better."

Auri was silent a few moments while she processed this. Then, "Oh…" she said softly.

Chromia put her hand on Auri's shoulder hesitantly. "I shouldn't have hurt Prowl," She said humbly, "I apologized to him. And I apologize to you for hurting your friend and commander."

"Apology accepted." Auri murmured.

"And," Chromia added, "I am going to try really hard to…" she faltered as a wave of trilph cravings washed over her. They felt like dark blue hands grasping her neck and pulling her downwards as they choked her. "Not vomit-" she gasped then clasped her hands over her mouth. She stumbled to get away.

Ratchet was there instantly, taking her and putting her on her back on a berth, placing something soothing against her forehead. Then Auri was sitting beside her, holding her hand and placing another hand cautiously on her midriff.

"What's wrong with her…?!" Auri asked, her voice small and fearful.

"Just stress," Chromia gasped out, "I gotta get outta Med-Bay… It's stressful-" She rolled over the berth and stumbled for the doorway.

Ratchet hesitated but let her go.

"Ratch?" Auri asked.

"It could easily be a stress-induced tank-upset." He said, watching the door close, "But I'll check up on her later."

"Alright…" Auri looked concerned.

"She's a tough one; she'll be fine." Ratchet reassured her. He glanced at Prowl then looked back at Auri. "Go on back to Soundwave. I have a Prowl to look after now."

Auri gave him a searching look but went obediently back to Soundwave's room.

Prowl looked uncomfortable then explained the whole thing with as few words as possible. Ratchet shook his head in disbelief when Prowl was finished, but he did have something that would ease Prowl's discomfort.

Prowl eyed the tablets that Ratchet put in a container for him. He eyed them _warily_.

"Just melt one in your mouth when the symptoms reach a level you don't care for." Ratchet directed, "Don't chew them or swallow them whole; just hold them in your mouth and melt them."

Prowl nodded. "Thank-you." He said. Then he put one in his mouth. He kept an expressionless face. The tablet tasted _awful_.

"And stand still a minute." Ratchet said, picking up a tool.

"Hm?"

"Your wings."

"Nn-mm." Prowl shook his head.

"Yes." Ratchet said, "Prowl. They need taken care of."

Prowl sighed, but he turned so the medic could do his work. He was relieved to find that it didn't hurt as much as he'd thought it would and that it didn't take long. Ratchet was finished by the time the bad-tasting tablet had melted away.

"All done." Ratchet said, "And you have salve for the bruises, right?"

Prowl nodded. "Yes."

"Alright." Ratchet motioned him away, "Get outta here."

"Thank-you, Ratchet."

"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome." Ratchet grumbled, but his ruse didn't fool Prowl. Prowl knew he was well cared for.

OoOoOoOoO

Chromia dropped in on Prowl in the office the next day. "Hello…" she murmured casually, not really looking at him.

"Good morning." Prowl greeted. Part of him was wary, but most of him trusted her.

"How you feeling?" she asked, not meeting his optics as she wandered over.

"Fairly well, thank-you." Prowl answered, thinking it unusually nice of her to ask after his well-being, "Ratchet did have a symptom-blocker, so the discomfort is at a minimum."

"That's good." She said, still avoiding optics. Prowl wondered what she was up to. Why was she there? She glanced over at the force-field that covered the broken window. It would be several days before they would be able to replace the glass. "Umm… I… uh, understand the symptom-blocker comes in the form of a bad-tasting tablet…"

Prowl thought this was an odd topic, but he nodded. "Yes, it is rather bad-tasting."

"So…" Chromia hesitantly put a smallish box on his desk, "I… thought you'd like something to sweeten the aftertaste."

Prowl looked at her curiously, but she was looking down. He cautiously picked up the box and opened it, peering at its contents. A bit of a smile touched his face then. Chromia had brought candy for him. It was a _very_ nice way of extending her apology.

"Thank-you." He said, feeling quite touched. Chromia gave him a hesitant smile then, briefly meeting his optics, and then she left.

After that day, she would stop by every day. Her hesitancy melted quickly, and she would ask Prowl if he needed help with anything, and while he was inclined to say 'no,' he said 'yes' for her sake. He knew she was trying to make up for the way she'd treated him. He would let her do some small task Auri would have normally done.

The next few days seemed to pass both quickly and slowly.

Prowl found the mornings uncomfortably slow despite all the work that had to be done. Auri made a habit out of visiting him for half an hour of his lunch break, and that half hour went quickly. Then the rest of the day went at a normal pace, except for when Chromia was there; then it went a little more quickly. Company made time go by faster, he realized.

Ironhide tended to sleep in more in the mornings now that Auri was sleeping in Med-Bay. That made starting the day a little slower for him, but he made it a priority to eat breakfast with Auri before he got on with his day. The afternoons went by alright, but the time he spent with Auri would go too fast. The evenings that Chromia had patrol and he was alone dragged. The ones she didn't have patrol, went… quite well.

Chromia slept very late each day… she had no problems falling asleep, but she had a hard time _staying_ asleep. Ironhide would slumber contentedly beside her, and she would lie awake bothered with too many thoughts and wishy-washy trilph cravings. So, she would sleep very late. That made mornings short, so afternoons dragged. Every day she would visit Prowl, treating him with new kindness that she'd rarely treated any mech with. She had patrol and battle practice, and she would visit Auri outside Med-Bay, but nothing seemed quite right. She always felt an unease in her spark.

Auri felt like the days went by quickly. Ironhide would usually come have breakfast with her and tell her stories or listen to her talk. The twins would often come and visit, and they usually stayed an hour. They probably would have stayed longer, but Ratchet would kick them out after a while for some reason. He always muttered about them getting on his nerves. Once the twins were gone, Auri had time mostly alone with Soundwave, and she talked to him. Then she would spend thirty minutes with Prowl during his lunch break to make sure he was doing alright. He _seemed_ to be doing alright, but Auri was never sure. Then she would sometimes hang out with Flareup for an hour, and then she needed to go back to Soundwave. She would spend time with him, and sometimes she'd sit with Bee and talk to Bee. Bee was almost always in Med-Bay, it seemed. Chromia would come after a while, and they would sit outside Med-Bay and snuggle and talk. Auri worried about her femme-guardian, though, and hoped that she wasn't getting sick. Ironhide would join them after a little while, and he'd stay with Auri a long time after Chromia had left. Sometimes they had dinner together, and sometimes the three of them went and had dinner together at the pub. Then it was evening and time to wind down. Night would come, and Auri would have to go to bed, but she would often lie awake for a while, watching how still Soundwave was until she nodded off.

Ratchet found the days to be quite routine after a bit. There were reports that he and his junior medics were always working on. Everything about Soundwave's stay in Med-Bay had to be tracked and logged in precise detail. And the monitoring work required them to work shifts. Ratchet got used to Auri's comings and goings, but he wouldn't get used to having the twins there. He had to kick them out after a couple hours. Then he listened to Auri talk to Soundwave.

A week passed by.

Soundwave seemed to be slowly but steadily improving, but he showed no signs of waking and no cognition was going on in his head, only standard processing.

The week stretched to eight days. Nine…

There were low levels of cognition now, but no awake-ness. The cognition was more like dreaming than actual thinking.

Ten.

Nothing changed on the tenth day. No improvements at all. He stayed the same.

"What's that mean?" Auri asked softly when Ratchet let her know that evening.

"I don't know yet." Ratchet said gently. Then he put her to bed with much tenderness.

OoOoOoOoO

Slight consciousness.

Sound readings. Temperature readings. A medical presence. Monitors.

Soundwave found the monitors in his body and head and froze them. They kept putting out the same reading. It looked like he had stopped improving. He did not wish anyone to know his condition until he knew more.

He felt trapped in a small room inside his head, cut off from the world of sense. He could make out that there were sounds around him, and he could tell that he was in a controlled environment with medical machines around him, but other than that, his senses seemed to be cut off. He couldn't even tell what the sounds were.

He worked a little, sorting things out in his mind, piecing things together. His memory seemed a little fragmented. He got it back together after a few hours. The Cons had attacked him, the Bots had rescued him. Elita. Ironhide. Ultra Magnus. Medical crew. Auri. Prowl. Auri. Auri…

He was with Auri. Auri was with him.

He discovered that she'd been talking to him while he'd slept. She'd been talking to others in the room, and they had been talking to her, but a great amount of time she spent with him, talking, sometimes singing softly.

He focused on his audio processors, directing the repair nanites to concentrate on getting his hearing back. There was some reluctance in his system to focus on hearing. His body was a mess, and it needed attention far more than his hearing did. But… after a bit of focusing, there was a response. The nanites repaired his audios slowly.

Sounds became clearer. Blurry hums of medical machines became distinct yet soft. The words of a mech speaking in a grim tone became almost intelligible. Another mech answered him with a questioning tone, sounding concerned.

His chronometer finally woke up and found itself. It had been ten days, almost eleven days, since his attack. It was late evening.

His audios picked up light scampering footsteps coming into the room.

"Ratchet? Ratchet?"

Soundwave felt his spark warm with joy. It was Auri's voice, sweet and questioning,

"Are there still no changes?" her voice asked.

Ratchet's voice answered indistinctly with a tone of reluctance and apology.

There was a little whimpering sound. "But why? I want him to be better…"

Ratchet's voice answered gently, trying to comfort her.

"But it's hard to be patient this long." It sounded like Auri was going to cry.

Ratchet's voice explained something patiently and kindly then asked a brief question. There was a silence, and then he asked it again.

"Okay…" Auri's voice answered reluctantly. A gentle command came in Ratchet's tones, and then she murmured, "Alright."

Her footsteps, along with Ratchet's, approached Soundwave, and then he heard her climbing up onto something near where he lay.

Ratchet's voice told her something gently, and her voice answered softly, "Good night."

Soundwave listened as Ratchet's footfalls faded to the other side of the room. Then,

"Good night, Soundwave." Auri's voice said softly. He felt her fingers touching his face then his shoulder. "Please wake up soon…" A kiss touched his cheek.

Then he heard her settle down an arm's length away.

Soundwave's spark thrummed with boundless joy. Auri was with him! His little Ari. His. And she was concerned for him, wanted him awake and well. It was beyond sweet to feel-

Something stopped him cold. He hadn't felt anything in terms of emotions. His empathetic function was down. No telepathy. No feeling of others' feelings.

He clamped down on the urge to panic. He calmed himself down and sent the nanites to work on his empathy-drive.

He repressed a shudder at the readings that came back. There were threads of deactivate virus all through it, and the half-awake antivirus was there keeping watch.

This would take a while to repair, and he would have to be exceedingly careful. It would take days.

Did he have days?

Yes.

No.

Maybe… not.

Even though he couldn't _sense_ Auri's stress, he could tell from her tone that she was stressed. A week was a long time to wait when somebody one cared about was seriously injured and nonresponsive, especially for younglings. And it had been more than a week. She needed him to wake as soon as possible.

He would work on things tonight and 'wake up' in the morning.

He worked for about twenty minutes, and then his weary body threatened to shut him down for the night. He'd wanted to work much longer, but clearly… he… didn't… have… the… strength… yet. He dropped into a heavy recharge.

OoOoOoOoO

Someone prodded Soundwave awake with two fingers on his shoulder.

"So, you're processing, are you, you dirty trickster?" Ratchet's voice demanded, "We're on to you now, Soundwave, so you just wake up when Auri gets back. Is that clear? She's been through enough, she doesn't need you lying around faking a coma while she feels bad for you. I just found your block on the monitor, so you snap out of it before I get _really_ mad."

Soundwave accessed his chronometer. It was afternoon, and it was now twelve days after the attack. He'd meant to wake up on the morning of the eleventh. Somehow he'd slept through it. The repairs he'd forced the nanites to do must have worn him out.

"He's processing." A young mech's voice said from a little ways away.

So, they'd broken his freeze on the monitor. They were getting his readouts now. He wasn't overjoyed at that, but he decided not to care. He'd meant to wake up yesterday, so it didn't matter if they found out today. He checked his empathy-drive, and it was still nonfunctional.

He didn't want to get up without his empathy-drive. He _needed_ to know what was going on with the beings around him. He didn't like not knowing; it wasn't safe.

Auri needed him, though.

Auri needed him awake. And he needed his empathy-drive working. Whose need would he choose to serve? He wondered about it for quite a while.

OoOoOoOoO

Prowl walked with Auri back to Med-Bay. She'd spent half the lunch-hour with him, as she had on the previous days, but he could tell that she wasn't thriving. Her wings were lower than usual, and her optics had lost a bit of their sparkle. She wasn't cheerful, either. She was sad, and she seemed almost lonely… even though her family and friends were spending so much time with her.

Forlorn. That was the word that came to Prowl's mind. She was forlorn.

So, he walked with her when she had to go back to Med-Bay. No conversation, cheerful or otherwise, took place as they walked, and that made Prowl's spark sink. He'd been watching her carefully every day when she'd visited. Each day she'd been stressed out, but she had been hopeful and encouraged by Soundwave's progress. The last two days, though, hadn't been encouraging. Soundwave had stopped improving, and it had been a hard blow to Auri. It seemed like she was retreating and regressing now. Her stress about Soundwave had been evident, and now that there was no encouraging news to counteract it, it was breaking her. It was breaking her spark.

Prowl put his hand on Auri's at an intersection when she nearly stepped in front of a rolling Jeep. She stood there like a little sleepwalker until the intersection was clear and Prowl gently nudged her forward. Prowl wanted to pick her up and carry her, but he knew that wouldn't go over well with anybody, so he simply walked close beside her.

They came to Med-Bay, and Prowl opened Med-Bay door for her, and then he pushed the reception room door open for her, following her to Soundwave's room.

She went and curled up on her berth, hiding her face in her pillow. Prowl went over to where Ratchet was sitting at his computers.

"You'd better do something." Prowl warned Ratchet in a sharp whisper.

Ratchet looked up at Prowl and was chilled by the intensity of Prowl optics. Something was burning in them, and it made Ratchet uneasy. He was relieved, though, that there was something he could do. He nodded and got up.

He went over to Auri.

"Auri, sparklette," he said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I have good news for you."

"I just want Soundwave up…" she whined, not uncurling.

"This is good news about Soundwave, though." Ratchet told her, "News I found out while you were at lunch."

Prowl looked uneasy. Auri hadn't had lunch with him. He thought she'd had it in Med-Bay.

"Want 'im uuuup." Auri whimpered, hunching her wings.

"Remember how it looked like he wasn't improving? Well, guess what. He was playing a trick on us, Auri. He woke up in his head enough that he realized that we were monitoring him, and he didn't want to be monitored so he blocked it."

Prowl raised an optic-ridge at Ratchet. Ratchet nodded seriously. Prowl looked impressed.

"So," Ratchet said, "We unblocked it, and we found that he's almost well enough to be opening his optics before too long. And he can process words now."

"I wanim bedderrrrr!" she whined discontentedly into her pillow.

"Auri," Ratchet rebuked, "No whining like that. You know that's not allowed. And don't be an ingrate. Soundwave is doing better than expected."

"I'm notta ingrate!" Auri squawked, kicking Ratchet.

"That's enough of that." Ratchet gave Auri's leg a light swat.

She howled like he'd hit her with a wrench. "Owww, you meanie!"

"Oh, for mercy's sake." First Aid said, coming over. "SOUNDWAVE!" he roared, completely startling everyone in the room, including Soundwave. Soundwave's optics snapped open, flickering on.

Auri whimpered something indistinctly in her pillow about First Aid being a loud meanie. First Aid would have rolled his optics, but he was too busy staring at Soundwave's.

The medical team had removed Soundwave's visor when he'd first been brought in. Soundwave was unmasked. His optics were not the pure crimson that everyone had assumed they were. The visor had several functions, and now First Aid realized that it had another function as well. The visor was such that it gave Soundwave the appearance of having pure red optics, but he didn't.

His optics were a darker, more burgundy color, with tinges of purple near the very edges of the center. Soundwave wasn't a purebred.

The optics were hazy at first, but then they strengthened and focused on First Aid. Then they shifted away to the other side and found Ratchet and his piercing blue optics. Prowl was a monotone blurry thing behind Ratchet… everything beyond Ratchet was blurry, actually. Ratchet moved, leaning over out of Soundwave's optic-range. When he straightened, though, he came back into view, and he had someone with him.

A small femme with door-wings.

"Auri," Ratchet said, turning so Auri was facing Soundwave, "Look. Put your head up. See who has his optics online?"

Slowly, Auri shifted then looked over at Soundwave.

"Soundwave!" she squealed, "Soundwave! Soundwave!" She kicked Ratchet, "Lemme down!" she squeaked eagerly.

Ratchet put her down beside Soundwave.

"You woke up!" She chirped joyfully, taking his hand and snuggling her face against it. "You okay!"

Soundwave blinked once. He couldn't move. It was insanely frustrating. Did he have vocal abilities? He checked his vocal processor. Barely. He would have to choose his words more carefully than ever.

"M' Ari…" he said gently. Then he was completely exhausted. He managed to halfway pull a smile, and then his optics flickered and shut.

"Awww…!" Auri fussed, "Stay wake more." She coaxed, "I'm sorry I was a whiney ingrate earlier. I'll behave." She promised earnestly.

Soundwave wanted his empathy-drive so he could reassure Auri that it was fine. He found a tiny bit more energy, though, and directed it to his fingers. They brushed Auri's cheek gently. He felt his fingers tighten on his hand a little more, and she kissed his fingers.

"I guess you does needs rest." She said. "You sleep. I'll watch the mean ol' medics."

Soundwave drifted back into recharge after that. Auri snuggled beside him, turning so she could watch Ratchet. She growled at him when he caught her optics.

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge but wandered back to his computers without a comment.

Prowl stayed still.

First Aid went over to Ratchet, and they talked in low tones.

"That was regression if I ever saw any." Ratchet murmured.

"I've never seen her that… regressed."

Ratchet shook his head. "Me neither. And I almost have no idea what to do with her or about her." he said grimly, "I guess just be patient with her and treat her gently but firmly. And warn her family and friends that she'd gone sparkling-mode."

First Aid glanced over his shoulder. "Prowl's still standing there looking like he's lost."

Ratchet glanced Prowl's way. "He's probably just concerned and doesn't know what to do yet. He'll be okay."

"You sure?"

Ratchet looked over again, studying the door-winged mech's body language. He nodded. "Pretty sure. And it might be a few minutes."

It was a few minutes, indeed. Then Prowl started to back away.

"No…!" Auri sat up and reached for him.

Prowl paused, his door-wings flaring a little in uncertainty. Then he started to take a step forwards.

Auri's wings flared upwards and out, a threatening or defensive gesture. A tiny growl came from her throat.

Prowl paused again. She didn't want him leaving, but she didn't want him approaching. He stepped sideways a few steps, well-aware of Auri's optics tracking his every move, and then sat on the small berth that Auri slept on at night. He gave her a guarded look, and she seemed fine with his location. After a couple moments, he slowly took out a data-pad and began to work.

At least, he tried to work. Her behavior had been most troubling. He knew it was regression, but he'd never seen it that severe in her. She'd had mild attacks of it before, but nothing like this. It made his spark ache to see like this. So, he worried about her and pretended to work while he worried.

A few minutes passed.

Prowl felt Auri's optics on him… he had for a while, actually. She'd been watching him constantly since he'd first moved. It was starting to make him uneasy. The question 'why?' was troubling him. Why was she just watching him?

He looked over at her, and her wings went up defensively, but it was a delayed reaction, not immediate, and her optics weren't bright. She needed sleep, deep sleep, and Prowl slowly realized that she probably hadn't been getting much. Already her wings had lowered, her defensiveness dropping against her will. Prowl wasn't even sure why she was defensive at him. He could understand her acting defensive towards the medics, but he didn't think he'd done anything to warrant the same response. He put that aside, though. Auri needed sleep.

Prowl put his data-pad away and got off the berth then walked towards Auri. Her wings flared up, and she sat up when he got "too" close.

"Aurion," he said gently but firmly, "_You need some sleep_." He told her in Praxian dialect.

"_No. I watching_." She replied stubbornly.

"_No one will harm Soundwave, but I will watch for you if you wish_."

She shook her head. "_No and no._" she said, crossing her arms.

"_Do not argue with me. You must have some sleep now._" Prowl said, putting out his hand to help her down.

"_No!_" she slapped his hand away and tried to kick him. "_Go away, you! Go way!_"

Ratchet started to come over, and Auri whirled to growl at him. Prowl saw a chance and took it. He slipped forward and scooped Auri up off the berth.

She shrieked and screamed and kicked, scuffing his finish with her pedes, but he carried her back to her berth and deposited her there.

"_Noooo!_" she howled, trying to get up and get off. Prowl was unyielding and held her down, a hand firmly on the small of her back and a hand firmly on her shoulder. She screamed and howled and kicked, and Prowl felt quite bad, but he knew it would be over soon. She was too tired to put up a long fight.

After a little bit, the screams and howls died down to whimpers and whines, and the kicking stopped altogether. Prowl took his hand from her back and rubbed her shoulder gently. A couple more minutes passed, and the only sound Auri made was a soft occasional sniffle.

"_Now, you recharge_." Prowl told her gently. She whimpered a little at that. "_Shh_," Prowl hushed her. "_Go to sleep, Auri_."

She sniffled. "_I no sleep like this_." She said softly. "_I sleep on mine side_."

"_Alright. Sleep on your side._"

She curled up on her side, but she didn't close her optics.

"_Close your optics_." Prowl told her. She looked obstinate. Then she sat up.

"_I no want sleep right now_." She declared.

Prowl looked obstinate. Ironhide had told him once or twice, "Don't pour a cube so full you can't drink it all," and he hadn't been talking literally. Prowl thought about that saying right then.

"_That is unfortunate,_" Prowl answered, "_Because that is just what you are going to do. You will lie back down, close optics, and go to sleep._"

Auri glared at him, but it was such a tired glare that it was more comical than biting.

"_You can't make me_." She said. Fighting words.

"_Yes, I can_." Prowl said. Then he mentally slapped himself. How on earth could he? He didn't want to hold her down again. He'd felt cruel doing that, and he didn't like feeling cruel. He sighed and wanted his non-regressed Auri back; she wouldn't be such a balky, recalcitrant little thing. She'd hug him and say 'okay, Prowl' and do as she was told.

Prowl thought of something and carefully sat on the berth himself. "_I will sit here._" He said, "_And you will lie down. If you are still awake in fifteen minutes, then you may get up._"

"_And _you_ will haff take nap_."

Prowl paused. "_Agreed_." He said.

"_Good_." Auri lay down and curled up.

Prowl shifted so he was sitting at a little more comfortably, and then he put his hand on Auri's helm, lightly, and gently stroked her face with his fingertips, making her blink her optics.

Auri was asleep in four minutes. Prowl was in nine.

OoOoOoOoO

Prowl twitched awake at Ratchet's gentle touch. His wings flicked in surprise, and he sat up quickly.

"Shh," Ratchet warned him, motioning to Auri. "She's asleep." He whispered, "You nodded off a couple seconds ago. And this berth _doesn't _sleep two bots of different makes unless they're bonded." He added meaningfully.

Prowl's face heated at that. "It was unintentional." He whispered back. "I would never do that purposely. I did not even know I was tired."

Ratchet nodded understandingly. "Dealing with a regressed femme-ling will do that." he said, "She's been wearing me out the past week, and I trained to deal with sparklings."

"That training was a long time ago." Prowl told him, feeling like he should try to comfort the medic somehow. Ratchet merely raised an optic-ridge at him, though, so he had the feeling his words hadn't been comforting. "Sorry…?"

Ratchet halfway smiled at him. "It's okay, Prowl. I think I knew you meant well." He said, "Maybe." He went back to his computers, and Prowl slipped off Auri's berth.

Looking around briefly, Prowl found a stood by the wall and went and sat on it. He hooked one heel on the top rung and let his other pede dangle. Then he took out his data-pad and began to work, actually getting some things done.

After almost two hours, Auri groaned and rolled onto her belly and looked around with a sleepy grimace. "I have a headache…" she said. Pause. "And memory gaps…" she was a little upset about this second discovery. "What did my memory gap on this time?" she asked Ratchet as he went over to her.

She held still while Ratchet ran a light scanner over her helm.

"Well," Ratchet said, "You had a regression fit because Soundwave wouldn't wake up, and then he did wake up, and you went farther into regression than I'd ever seen you go. You growled at me, and you barely even recognized poor Prowl over there."

Auri peered around Ratchet to see where Prowl was sitting pretending to read his data-pad.

"Ohhh… dear…" Auri felt bad about that. A little embarrassed, too. "Was I very bad?"

Ratchet rather smiled. "You threw a fit like any self-respecting sparkling when Prowl tried to get you to take a nap."

"Oh, don't laugh at me, Ratchet," Auri begged, blushing, "It's not funny."

"It is in hindsight." Ratchet said gently, "But you're right. It was not funny."

"I guess I did take a nap, though, and rebooted okay." She paused, and her optics widened. "You… you… you said Soundwave woke up?"

Ratchet nodded. "He did." He said, "Opened his optics and onlined them, gave First Aid a look then found me, and then I picked you up so you could see him."

Auri looked torn between joy and sorrow. "He woke… but I don't even remember."

"You might be able to remember it later." Ratchet said. "Sometimes regressed memories take a while for your processor to find and file."

Auri smiled up at him and looked a little comforted. "Alright. What else happened?"

"He barely had any power and almost no voice, but he did manage to speak. And he said, 'my Auri.'"

"Ohhhh…!" Auri's filled with a soft light of joy and delight, "He said my name? He said my name!" She hugged herself happily. Then she hugged Ratchet and kissed his helm. "Thank-you for saving him, Ratchet!"

"He's still got a long ways to go." Ratchet said gently, rubbing her back.

"Oh, yes, I know, but he's made it to the first step. I'm so glad!" She chirped. Then she hopped down off the berth and scampered over the First Aid and hugged him.

"Don't forget Prowl." Ratchet said, "He's the one who made you take a nap."

Auri scampered over and hugged Prowl. "I'm sure I was awful,"

"You were." Prowl said, but there was no malice in his tone.

"Well, thank-you for putting up with me and taking care of me."

Prowl nodded.

Then Auri went and sat on Soundwave's berth, and Ratchet told her about Soundwave's block on the monitor that he'd found and filled her in on the details of his improvement.

"That was mean of him to scare me like that." Auri said when Ratchet was done, "But I guess he didn't intend to scare me."

"Of course he didn't." Ratchet reassured her.

"Silly Soundwave." Auri said lovingly.

Med-Bay seemed to settle down for a little while; the medics did their work, First Aid took his break when Jolt came in to take his shift, Prowl continued working, and Auri sat by Soundwave, humming softly while she wrote on a data-pad.

Then,

"Mirage-!" Auri greeted happily as a mech put his head in the door.

Prowl's optics whisked quickly to the light blue mech, but then he made them refocus on his data-pad. It was hard, though, to focus. Auri was giving the spy a warm hug and telling him that she was glad to see him. He was asking if Soundwave was doing a little better, and she was replying that he was a bit, rather. He was saying something nice, and then he was smiling as he took something out of subspace behind his back.

"Well, I brought you something from the pub," Mirage said, optics twinkling. Prowl's optics glittered, and perhaps there was a figurative green glint in them.

"Oh, oh, what is it?" Auri asked eagerly,

"You must guess first. Ah, no peeking!"

"Hmm…" Auri crossed her arms thoughtfully. "Something I can drink?"

"No…!"

"Um, eat?"

Mirage nodded. "Yes, indeed."

Auri stood on one foot. "Have I eaten it before?"

Mirage shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"Well, Raj, that's not fair, silly. If I've never had it, how can I know what it is to guess?"

"Oh… alright. I'll give you a hint. Close your optics."

Mirage held the treat near Auri's nose, and she sniffed.

"Umm… No guesses yet."

"Oh… well, open your mouth then."

Jolt nudged Ratchet surreptitiously and pointed his thumb covertly in Prowl's direction. Ratchet glanced subtly then looked back at Jolt then raised an optic-ridge. Prowl was practically radiating indignation. And he didn't quite blame the mech. Mirage was being just little bit forward.

"Mmm!" Auri purred. She liked whatever it was that Mirage had put in her mouth. "It's delicious, but I still can't guess." She giggled. "It's a candy, but I don't know what kind."

Mirage fed her a second piece, and Ratchet decided that he should put a stop to this. He was a little too slow, though.

"It's called," Ironhide said as he entered, "Mirage-is-getting-too-fresh candy."

Mirage didn't quite twitch. As a spy, he'd learned to control his instinctive reactions fairly well.

Auri's optics widened a little.

"Fingers to mouth is going too far." Ironhide said, giving Mirage a warning look, "So, keep yours away from hers, or you might be losing them. Got it?"

Mirage nodded swiftly. "Yes, sir." He said. "And, I do apologize. I hadn't planned…"

"It's the unplanned things that get you the most trouble." Ironhide said warningly, "_Anything_ you want to keep attached you keep away from her."

"Now might be a good time to disappear." Prowl said helpfully.

Mirage gave Auri a small box then hurried away. Prowl was quite glad to see him go.

Ironhide gave Ratchet a stern look. "Some guardian, you are." He said,

Ratchet raised his hands in protest. "I was getting up to rebuke him when you came in. Before that, it seemed innocent enough."

Ironhide glanced over at Prowl then back at Ratchet. "Well, alright. Just… watch him more closely next time. Watch his _hands_."

"Oh, dear, Ironhide," Auri said, "I know where his hands shouldn't go on my body; I just didn't know the mouth was one of those places."

"You sure?" Ironhide asked.

Auri nodded firmly.

"Well… Okay." Ironhide trusted her. He did not trust Mirage, though. "I'll see you later." He said, bending to kiss her helm. "I have patrol, but then I'll come back and see you."

"Alright." Auri said. She hugged him and then let him go so he could take his patrol. She went back to sit by Soundwave and play a game on her data-pad.

Prowl wondered if it was obvious to anyone that he'd intercommed Ironhide to have him put a stop to Mirage… really, Ironhide always stayed for much longer, and this time he'd basically just stopped in, stopped Mirage, and then left. Maybe no one would think anything of it…?

Auri paused then picked up the smallish box that she'd set down. She looked at the candy in and cocked her head. She still didn't know what kind it was. She slipped off the berth and went over to Prowl.

He looked up from his data-pad at her approach.

"Raj never said what they were." She told him, holding out the box.

Prowl touched the box and looked at the candies. "Well, they _look_ like Praxian crystal candy." He said neutrally.

"Well, have one and tell me what they taste like."

Prowl took one of the candies and put it in his mouth. He flicked a door-wing. "That is definitely not Praxian crystal candy." He said, "I can tell it as an attempt at it, though. Earth does not have all the ingredients needed for authentic _Praxcrican_, but if Mirage keeps trying, he might end up with something almost like the real thing."

"_Praxcrican_." Auri chirped the word with laughter. "I like that nickname."

"You would like the candy, too." Prowl said, giving Mirage's box a regretful look.

"Well, maybe Mirage will get figured it out sometime." Auri said, climbing onto the stool beside Prowl's. "Perhaps you could give him feedback."

"Perhaps." Prowl said, looking at her gently. She offered him another piece of the candy. His hand hesitated above the box for a moment, but then he took a piece of the candy. There was nothing quite like eating candy that some other mech had given a femme.

"So, what is real Praxcrican like?" Auri asked,

Prowl considered it a couple moments. "It has a softer taste. In regards to texture… it looks the same, but the real candy comes apart more readily. And then it dissolves more slowly. It gets quite nice and creamy before it dissolves. This stuff sort of just dissolves without the creamy stage."

"What would make it get creamier?" Auri wondered.

"I do not know." Prowl answered. Then a bit of mischief showed on his face. "We could tell him to try using asphalt."

"Prowl!" Auri giggled with horrified delight, "That's nasty. Bad Prowl!" She raped his arm lightly.

"Or rubber." Prowl said, optics twinkling, "Or-! A mixture of _both_."

"Eeew!" she giggled, still delighted, "That's _gross_! We don't even eat rubber!"

Prowl chuckled, happy with the results of his teasing. "Who knows? It might good." He teased some more.

"No! Have you smelled it?" she was laughing now.

"It could be delicious."

"Noooo! No! No!" she was shaking with laugher. "Yucky!"

"Yummmm," Prowl purred.

"No, no, no."

"It could be tasty."

"Prowl…!" she giggled.

"It could be scrumptious."

Auri giggled quite hard at that, and she laughed so hard that she lost her balance and fell off her stool. Prowl jumped up and looked alarmed at the sound thump that she made, but she was still laughing when she rolled over. She laughed and laughed, and then she started to choke.

Prowl pulled her up quickly and thumped her on the back. Her system coughed a little, and then she was fine. She cleared her throat.

Prowl suddenly became self-conscious again. _What on earth had he been doing, cutting up like that? Being SILLY?_

Ratchet was standing nearby, having hurried over when Auri started to choke. "Are you alright now, Auri?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, sir. But I think you should check up on Prowl." She said, keeping a serious face, "His gustatory functions seem to have glitched, for he now thinks rubber might be a suitable candy ingredient."

"Oh, well," Ratchet said, "A good slap will usually fix that." Then he went back to revive Jolt, who'd crashed in shock at Prowl's antics.

Auri and Prowl paused. Then Prowl peeked over at Auri and found her gazing up at him speculatively. He lifted his wings questioningly, giving her slightly curious look.

"I think… you are too nice to slap." She said.

Prowl couldn't figure out how to answer that right away. It was a complement, though, wasn't it? "Thank-you." He said.

She laughed softly then got back up on her stool, kicking her pedes a little.

For some odd reason, Prowl thought of kisses. Then he banished the thought with effort and picked his data-pad up.

He sat and worked in quiet for a little while, ten or fifteen minutes. Then he realized that Auri was looking curious. He gave her his attention.

"Is it 'work-wherever-you-want-to' day?" she asked, motioning to his data-pad.

Prowl paused. "Yes." He said, "For me anyway." He hesitated then went on, "When you went sparkling-mode, you were defensive against Ratchet and First Aid, but did not want me to leave, so I thought I should stay until you were alright again."

Auri's optics softened. "O'… thank-you, Prowl. That was very kind of you."

"You are most deserving of every kindness, Aurion." Prowl said, and there was a quiet, fervent sincerity in his tone. And his optics seemed very deep at that moment. The moment held a few seconds…

Then Prowl's wings flicked. "Intercom," he said, his optics dimming slightly as he turned his attention to the message. Then his optics widened. "I must go now," he was putting away his data-pad and getting off the stool, and his wings had their mildly alarmed set.

"Is it serious?" Auri asked, sliding off her stool, her optics concerned.

"It could be." Prowl said, "We picked up a weak Praxian distress signal, and Ratchet is included on the team."

"Oh-!"

"Behave for poor Jolt." Ratchet said to Auri as he came over. "C'mon, Prowl. Let's go see what we're getting this time. Another little femme-ling would be nice, but I doubt we'll be that fortunate."

Prowl glanced back at Auri. Yes, they had been quite fortunate. "Nh-!"

"Mind the door jambs, Prowl." Ratchet said, smiling.


	14. Chapter 14, Praxus

Chapter 14

**Praxus**

The pain was easing…

Hunger pains… fading. The wing tear… numbing. Bruises… dulling. Cuts… the cuts still hurt. There had been something charging about the cut pains. But… now it was fading. Everything was fading.

Once hope had left, there really hadn't been anything to hold onto, and he was slipping now. Slipping, sliding… down… slowly, slowly into some sort of soft blackness.

The blackness was beckoning, like silky hands trying to draw him in. It almost whispered, "c'mon… come… sweet." Its tongue curled lasciviously… seductive fingers trailed over his battered armor, caressing, hoping to take him. The kisses were soft, encouraging, one after another, licking his back, taking away the pains.

"Nh…" he tried to pull away as he realized how close it had gotten. It seemed to laugh softly then, and the fingers teased gently, removing the pain from his wings and caressing them lightly. It felt good… so good… Life had only meant pain. Why hold on to it?

OoOoOoOoO

Firestar and Smokescreen were already waiting at the ground-bridge when Ratchet and Prowl arrived. Then Magnus pulled up moments later.

"Engage low-profile designs." Prowl reminded. They were all in car-mode. He cloaked his sirens and a holograph paintjob covered up his patrol car looks, rendering him a plain dark blue. The others followed suit. Ratchet switched to black, Firestar stayed red, but chose a darker, duller shade, Smokescreen went all gray, and Ultra Magnus went all blue.

"You're still too sparkly." Prowl said to Magnus, winning snickers from Smokescreen and Firestar and a short chuckle from Ratchet.

Magnus silently dulled the blue and added some dust effect.

"Good." Prowl said. Then they bridged out and looked around at their new surroundings.

"A shut-down automobile plant." Firestar noted, "Good place to stay."

"No human life-signs for a couple miles." Ratchet said, having bounced out scans.

"Transform at will, but be careful." Prowl said. He transformed, his wings flaring a little more to gather input. "Spread out," he directed, "But do not go too far. Keep in optic-range of at least one other team-member. Scanners high, stun-guns low."

They fanned out carefully.

Prowl walked cautiously, looking with the scanners in his wings as well as with his optics.

Several minutes passed as the team searched quickly but thoroughly. Then Firestar whistled from the edge of the roof. "Found 'im!" she called, pointing to somewhere around the corner.

"Prowl!" Ratchet called. He was at the corner.

Prowl broke into a run, motioning for Ratchet to go ahead. He'd be there in a moment.

When Prowl got around the corner, he found Ratchet kneeling beside a black prone form with battered door-wings. The mech looked dead, unmoving.

"He might be alive for a little while yet." Ratchet said, not turning from his work. He was running an IV into the mech. "Starved, mostly. He's unconscious now, poor thing. Older than Bee, but younger than you, Prowl."

Prowl took a cube of Energon from subspace as he went to the winger's other side. He knelt and poured a little of the Energon onto the nearest wing, smoothing and spreading the liquid energy with his fingers.

Ratchet mentally kicked himself. He'd forgotten about that. Praxian wings absorbed sunlight, taking in the solar energy, but they would also absorb Energon if the body was very low on it.

Prowl rose and went to Ratchet's side of the mech and poured Energon on the other wing, repeating the process. Ratchet watched then glanced back at the first wing.

"I think that's working," Ratchet murmured, noting the slight change in the Energon's consistency.

Prowl's optics flicked quickly over at the wing. "Then he'll probably live." He said. He glanced quickly over his shoulder. Magnus and Smokescreen were in the area now, standing a good ways away on guard. Firestar was still on the roof, standing on guard as well.

Ratchet ran his scanner over the mech again. "Time to bridge back." He said. He turned. "Magnus," he called, and he motioned the commander over.

Magnus approached carefully.

"He's a bit battered, but not badly," Ratchet said, "So I'll just have you carry him."

Magnus nodded, watching Prowl rub the Energon into the other mech's wings. Prowl rose and stepped away then.

"Best would be keeping him wings-up," Ratchet added, "Wings-vertical would be next best."

Magnus nodded again then couched down. The mech looked a little larger than Prowl. Magnus knelt and then carefully picked up the still mech with Ratchet helping him. The mech didn't respond at all, and Ratchet helped Magnus ease him onto his shoulder.

Magnus rose, carefully balancing the new weight on his shoulder. Firestar dropped down from the rooftop. They went and bridged back to base; Firestar and Smokescreen went off, and Magnus, still carrying the new mech, bridged into the main room in Med-Bay with Ratchet and Prowl.

"We'll stick him in room three; it's got a Praxian berth." Ratchet said, heading over to pick up a few things. "Lay him on his back."

Magnus and Prowl went to room three, and Magnus's optics quickly took in the specially designed berth. Few door-wingers liked lying on their backs for prolonged periods of time, and that was what had influenced the making of this style of berth. There was a sort of cubbyhole on the berth for wings; that way the winger could lie on his or her back, and his or her wings would rest on a platform below. It also had a force-field device installed in it to patch up the gap if the Praxian wanted to lie face down.

Magnus carefully laid the mech on his back, settling his wings in the space.

"There," he said, resting his hand on the mech's abs for a moment. Then he jerked his hand away when his optics caught something on the mech's chest.

"Decepticon?" Prowl asked, seeing the hatred gather in Magnus's expression.

Magnus nodded as his fists clenched. Prowl came over.

Prowl looked closely at the insignia then ran his fingers over it ever so slightly. "He or someone tried to file it off." He said quietly, and he noted that a visor covered the mech's optics.

Ratchet came in and gave Prowl a curious look. Prowl took his hand away.

"He's Decepticon." Magnus said, his tone quiet and dangerous.

"And Praxian." Ratchet commented, "It's not every day you find a Praxian Decepticon." He said, glancing at Prowl. Prowl shook his head. Ratchet paused. "Gonna do a different IV now." he warned Prowl.

Prowl turned away. The sight of needles made him uneasy, bringing back haunting memories of cruel Decepticon interrogation. Sometimes he would panic a little if he saw one, and he occasionally panicked at the sight of anther bot getting injected. He wouldn't watch.

"All done." Ratchet said when he was done.. He paused, his fingers running over the Decepticon insignia on the armor. "I think he might have been done with the Cons, Magnus." He said, but it didn't make any difference to the tall commander. Ratchet set about removing the mech's chest armor then. None of it wanted to come off without a fight. Ratchet ground his teeth and worked patiently, and then it finally came free.

Ratchet sighed. There was hardly a glimmer of light escaping the mech's spark chamber, and that was a very bad sign. He hooked the spark-stabilizer up to the mech's chest, but his own spark was heavy as he did so.

"Prowl," he said quietly, "His spark shouldn't be this faint. We caught him in time to keep him from starving to death, but he's already given up. Once his will to live goes, the rest of him goes soon afterwards… you know."

Prowl looked down.

"If you'll get in his processor, you might be able to save him."

Prowl nodded, head still down. He'd known Ratchet was going to say that. It was something he did not like doing, but if it meant saving a life, especially a young Praxian life, then… well, he would have to do it. Ratchet _could_ do it, but if would be better if he had Prowl do it. A Praxian would be better, and Ratchet wouldn't have to leave his duties.

Prowl went to the mech's shoulder, and Ratchet brought him a small device. Prowl fitted it against his hand and ran data-cabling from his wrist into it. The device would protect him to a certain degree if the mech tried to sabotage him while he was in his processor. He could still get his processor fragmented through it, but not as badly as he could without it. Hopefully that wouldn't happen. One never knew with strangers, though.

Once the device was ready, Prowl worked the covering off the mech's data-port, located on his neck. He sat on the stool that Ratchet brought him, and then he synced in.

It was dark. Very. Dark. And suffocating. Draining. And then there were firewalls, thick, heavy firewalls that would take an expert hacker to get through them. Prowl nudged, though, and the section of firewall before him crumbled.

Prowl quickly put in a failsafe bit of code for his own safety then ventured further.

He felt like he was wading in pain and suffering, everything ached, and there was no hope. The past was full of pain and suffering, and the future would only hold more pain and more suffering. There was no one conceivable who might possibly help. The Decepticons were cruel torturers, bullies who prolonged agony, and the Autobots were monsters, fearsome creatures with twisted morals and false values.

Was there no happiness anywhere?

None. Everything was tainted. Even things that had once been enjoyable had become tainted. Guilt, shame. Remorse. Hate. So much hate. And fury, fury that had weakened and festered. Poison. Toxicity. Misery. All too heavy for so young a spark to bear. It had crushed him.

Prowl came to another set of firewalls, and then he paused. This wasn't normal. This was confusing.

~_Well._~ The mental voice startled Prowl. It was young and bitter. ~_Who are you?_~

Prowl felt almost as if someone was closing in on him, wrapping an arm gently but dangerously around his neck, a hand gripping one of his wings. It was not comfortable. Prowl fought the urge to fight. He would be protected from any serious damage by the device he'd synced through, he reminded himself.

~_I am a fellow Praxian._~ He replied. Then he felt like he got punched in the wings. The pain stung and stayed for a moment, then it began to ease a little. The mech seemed to taste Prowl's pain carefully during this time, like one would a taste fine high-grade, rolling it over his tongue and searching for anything amiss. Prowl wished the device would block out pain, but it didn't.

~_So,_~ the mech paused,_ ~What is it you think you're looking for?_~

~_I am looking for a way to convince you to live._~

~_OH_. _I've tried life. And, you know what?_~

Prowl didn't reply, for he thought it was a rhetorical question. A couple moments passed, and then he gasped as a sharp pain stabbed through him. In the physical world, Prowl's fingers tightened on the edge of the berth, gripping it. Ratchet came closer.

~_Well, do you?_~ the mech asked, sounding darkly curious.

Prowl paused. ~_It was full of pain and suffering._~ he said quietly. ~_The few you came to love were taken from you. Those you wanted to trust brutalized you and betrayed you. Every victory came at a price, and usually the price was more than you wanted to pay. But, you kept paying because you thought that you would eventually earn your place. You never did, though._~

He felt himself being circled and considered.

~_Interesting. Poetic, rather._~the mech paused.~_I _hate_ poetry._~

Prowl reeled as something clawed at his mind. He felt a searing pain as the other mech fragmented a little of his processor, punishing him for being poetic ~_I- a-pol-og-gize -!~_

The mech paused. The fragmenting stopped. The pain stayed.

~Y_ou did sum part of it well, though. Take it and look at it._~

Prowl analyzed his words quickly. ~_What would you have me learn?_~

~_OH, I don't knowwwww._~ he growled, and Prowl felt sarcasm dripping down around him. ~_Perhaps something like __**how utterly **_**stupid****_ you are for coming to ask if I want more _****_xxxxxxing_****_ d-n _****_suffering_****_!_**~

Prowl gasped at the pain that the mech hurled at him along with his foul language.

~_Seriously. What. The. Glitching. Xxxxx. I go through hell, and you come butting in here to ask if I'd like to extend my visit? Xxxxxing Unicron. Are you an Autobot? –OH, of course you would be._~

Prowl took the verbal abuse patiently. He'd been expecting it, but he heard more hurt in the mech's tone than he heard anger or sneering. The pain that followed, though, made Prowl's fingertips leave marks on the berth. He wanted to give the mech a dose of physical pain in return, just so the mech would know what it felt like and perhaps not do it again. But, Prowl would not do that. His mission was to help, not to hurt.

The infliction of pain stopped, leaving only dull echoes of pain.

~_So._~ the mech said, ~_The noble Autobot has come to save my worthless life. What for?_~

~_It is not for Autobots that I come._~ Prowl replied, ~_It is for Praxians. There are so few of us left. I would not have another one die. The future of Praxus and its customs are in our hands. There is a young Praxienne here who never knew Praxus or its language, and I have been teaching her our dialect so that it might not be lost at this generation. Have you no pride left that you would wish to preserve your heritage?_~

~_My heritage is nothing but suffering and mistreatments. I wouldn't wish it on anybody._~ This came in a sullen note.

~_Have you ever looked into the optics of a young Cybertronian and seen how much beauty and wonder there is within them? How much joy there is in them? You are jaded, as am I, but there are others who are not. There are those who find laughter in a sunbeam and delight in a simple word of praise, who think learning twelve new words in an hour is a sweet triumph. Have you never met such a one?_~

There was a silence. The pain gathered and grew.

~_Have you?_~ Prowl asked after a few moments. Then he gasped in pain as the mech slammed a wave of it into him.

~_Get out._~ the mech shouted, giving him another dose of pain, ~_Get the hell out of my head. You know what an unwanted processor intrusion is like? Do you? It's like an intimate violation. Rape. Grab, force yourself on someone who_ **_just doesn't xxxxxing want IT. GET OUT! LEAVE ME TO DIE IN PEACE!_**~

Prowl backtracked swiftly and un-synced as quickly as he could.

He gasped when he was free. He found that he was panting from the pain, and he felt weak. His wings were shaking. "I think-" the room whirled around him, and he felt sick. The pain was incredible, and his whole head burned with a processor ache from the fragmentation. He closed his optics. The sound of the younger mech yelling at him to leave seemed to echo in his processor. He rested his arms on the berth, hanging his head then dropping it onto his arms. Ratchet was right beside him, and he felt the scans that the medic ran over him.

Then he felt Ratchet's hand resting on his shoulder, a gentle touch to comfort him.

"Fragmented much?" Ratchet asked, concern in his tone.

Prowl shook his head, lying. "Mostly just pain." He forced his optics to focus then lifted his head to look up at the medic. "I would not expect him to still be online in the morning." He said quietly, "There was only darkness, and when I tried to coax some light out of it, he got… g… I… I think he's been hurt beyond wanting to heal."

Ratchet nodded his understanding. He'd seen that before, and it always broke his spark because there was generally nothing he could do for that. "Alright." He said softly.

Prowl rested his chin on hands, his optics resting on the other Praxian with pain and in them. His wings lowered.

Then the wings flicked up, and Prowl got up, his optics hardening. "There is no logic in mourning one who hates Praxian life." He said quietly, "Even if that one is a Praxian." Then he left.

Ratchet sighed, and Magnus looked angry. Ratchet motioned that Magnus could leave as well, so he did, quite quickly before he said anything he would regret.

Ratchet stood by the Praxian for a while, wishing things could have been different, wishing that the war had never lasted so long. He moved after a bit and double-checked the spark-stabilizer and the vital monitor. He made sure the IV was working. He wanted the young mech to live. Then he slowly left the room and made his way to Soundwave's room.

Jolt looked up questioningly, and Ratchet was relieved to find that Auri was not in the room.

"She's with her guardians." Jolt said, catching Ratchet's glance towards Auri's berth. Ratchet realized how late in the day it was then.

"Mm." Ratchet replied.

"And Prowl just left…" Jolt looked guilty. "He said not to tell him I told you, but I helped him fix some fragmentation in his processor and dosed him some pain-killers."

Ratchet felt too tired to be very irritated with Prowl.

"He was in quite a bit of pain. So… I took care of him."

"Thanks, Jolt." Ratchet said. He reached over and gave his junior medic a gentle rub on the shoulder then went and sat down.

Jolt hesitated and looked uncertain. "Um… How'd… er, what's the status on the other Praxian?"

Ratchet shook his head. "Well, he's alive, but… his spark isn't in it. Prowl synced into his processor and that didn't go nicely. –That's how Prowl got the fragmentation. Prowl said… not to expect to find the mech online in the morning."

"Oh." Jolt looked down. That was disheartening.

OoOoOoOoO

Rebooting…

Prowl stirred a little, shifting his body slightly and lifting his wings a tad before lowering them again. Then he picked his head up off his keyboard and gazed at the office around him. He'd come to his office after leaving Med-Bay.

It was morning now.

So…

He'd just slept the whole night in his office without meaning to. His wings lowered. Bots were going to harass and rib him about it for a while now, and he hated that. It hurt. It didn't hurt as badly as his head did, though. Jolt had helped him repair the fragmentation, but there was still a great amount of pain.

He sighed then went to the back door and slipped out into the alley. Perhaps he wouldn't get caught and no one would know.

OoOoOoOoO

Ratchet wandered out from his room in Med-Bay, entering the hallway then going into the main room. It was early morning, and he needed his Energon like Lennox needed his coffee. Everything would be better once he had a little Energon in his tank.

He'd meant to grab a cube to take to his quarters last night, but he'd forgotten, as tired as he'd been.

Tugging a cupboard door open, he eyed the Energon cubes inside. Someone had taken one of them since he'd last looked, and the junior medics never took his Energon cubes. Auri was too short to reach this cupboard without aid, and she never touched it either.

Ratchet wondered if he'd misremembered, or if he'd taken some in the middle of the night and forgotten.

"Glitchin' Unicron." Someone said in Cybertronian-Standard with forced amused sarcasm, "What are _you_ staring at?"

Ratchet whirled swiftly to face the stranger, and his optics landed on the black Praxian that Magnus had carried in unconscious yesterday, the one Prowl had said wouldn't be alive in the morning.

"Sorry." The door-winger said off-handedly, not sounding sorry. He was across the room, standing by a counter. "I lived. And I took one of your Energon cubes." He held up a half-empty cube. "Hope it wasn't special."

"It wasn't." Ratchet said, keeping the amazement out of his tone. He got himself a cube but kept an optic on the mech. He really disliked the visor at the moment. So much was conveyed through the optics, and the visor hid all that. The visor didn't even show color; it was just black.

The wings gave away details, though. Even from across the room, Ratchet could tell that the mech's wings were trembling, either from physical weakness or from fear… or both.

The mech took a sip of Energon, hardly lowering his head; Ratchet figured that the mech's optics never left him.

"And seriously," the mech added in a forced conversational tone, "I had no idea that Autobots were so lenient with the Cons they dragged in. I mean, really. No cuffs or bonds or anything. I was impressed."

Big talker, that's what he was, Ratchet decided. The mech talked carelessly to hide his fear.

"It was a slight oversight." Ratchet replied, "We had thought you weren't going to live."

"Oh…" he paused, "Sorry to disappoint." The cheerfulness was forced, "I do that a lot."

"Don't be sorry," Ratchet said, "We'd much rather have a live Praxian than a dead one."

"Heh." He snorted briefly then took another drink of his Energon. More than just his wings were shaking now. His hands trembled a little.

"So. You gonna stay for a while?" Ratchet asked.

"Might as well." The right wing shrugged shakily. The torn left wing was held still.

"Good to hear that." Ratchet said welcomingly. The Praxian's wings flared a little fearfully. "What's your name?"

The wings flicked up. Then they were held stiffly. "None of your xxxxxing business."

Ratchet pursed his lips and decided he'd try a little nonsense and see if he could get a little levity. "That's a bit of a long name. Is there a nickname you go by?"

The young mech was _clearly_ not expecting that. He jerked his head up a little, and his fingers tightened around his Energon cube a little. "I…" he seemed rather scared now, "I… d…" he started shaking, and he would have taken a step backwards if he hadn't already been back against a counter. "D-don't want any of m-my old names."

Ratchet nodded gently. "I can understand that." he said soothingly, "Is there a new name you would like?"

The mech shook his head tensely.

Ratchet paused then cocked his head. "Would it be alright if we called you 'Praxus' for the time being, naming you for your city?"

The mech didn't move; it was as if he thought Ratchet was trying to pull a mean joke on him. Then he shrugged guardedly after a couple moments.

"Alright." Ratchet said firmly, "We'll call you Praxus, and then if you decide you want another name at anytime, we'll call you by that name instead. Does that sound good?"

Praxus didn't move for a couple moments. Then he shrugged in agreement.

"Okay." Ratchet said. "I'll need to run some scans on you, just a few, and they won't take long or be uncomfortable, but I'll let you get used to things in here for a little while first."

Praxus had nothing to say.

"You can go in the courtyard if you like, but other than that you are not allowed to leave Med-Bay until I clear you. You're not a prisoner, though, unless you give us reason to make you one."

"I left the Cons." Praxus said guardedly.

"That's what we figured." Ratchet said, indicating his chest.

Praxus looked down at his own chest, at the filed Decepticon insignia. "Yeah." He looked back at Ratchet, his hidden optics taking in the look of compassion on Ratchet's face.

"Is there anything I might do or get for you?" Ratchet asked,

Praxus seemed to freeze at this offer. Several moments passed and grew long.

"Would you like to wash?" Ratchet asked.

"M… myself?"

Ratchet nodded.

Praxus looked down at his armoring. Then he nodded like Auri did when she was tired.

"Alright." Ratchet said, "Come on and I'll show you the Med-Bay showers. They're not as great as the base bathhouse, but they're better than nothing. They've got privacy and hot running water, and that's pretty much all you need."

Praxus set down his Energon cube cautiously and followed the medic at a _very_ safe distance. Then Ratchet stopped at a door and opened it.

"There you go." He said, motioning inside. "Hot water faucet is on that side; cold's on the other. Cloths and scrubbers and soap and whatnot are all on the shelves inside there, along with the towels. Umm…" he stepped in and checked something then came out again, "And there's polish in there, too, with buffing cloths."

Praxus kept his face expressionless.

"Give me a shout if you have any questions or need something, okay?"

Praxus's wings tilted a little with suspicion, but he nodded his head once. "'Kay."

Ratchet waited for Praxus to go in so he could go back up the hallway to the main room, but Praxus didn't move. After a moment, Ratchet realized that he was too close for Praxus's comfort; Praxus would have to approach him to enter, and Praxus wasn't comfortable with how close he would get.

Ratchet took a couple steps back. "I don't bite." He said,

"I'm sure you grab, though." Praxus said, taking a cautious step towards the door.

"Only in the line of duty."

Praxus's wings flicked in suspicion, and then he hurried past the medic. He grazed his door-wing on the door then jumped, turning around quickly, and slammed the door closed like monsters were after him.

"My life…" Ratchet murmured, "Just got a whole lot more complicated…" he went back to the main room then went to Soundwave's room.

"Good morning," he said to First Aid.

"Good morning," First Aid said. Then he raised an optic-ridge. He'd heard the whole conversation in the main room.

"This is going to be a fun place." Ratchet grimly. "A Soundwave. A regressed Auri. A worried Prowl. A set of concerned twins. A Mirage with ideas. A pair of protective volatile guardians. And we top it off with a little Con deserter with issues."

First Aid raised an optic-ridge again. "He didn't look that small to me."

"Figuratively." Ratchet said. "He _is_ a bit big for a door-winger, actually. Could be a mix breed."

"Maybe. I don't think he'll be volunteering information, though. At least not soon."

"Indeed not." Ratchet shook his head. "Well, he's washing now, and if he's like any of our other door-wings, he'll be taking a while."

First Aid nodded.

"And we'll have to do all the newcomer paperwork and scans to do with him, and he's all defensive and scared, so _that's_ gonna be some picnic." Ratchet stopped and rubbed his neck, "I'd better not start complaining. The list is pretty long. Well. How's Soundwave?"

"_Sound_ asleep." First Aid said, and he grinned when Ratchet glowered at the pun. "As is Auri. She woke up in the middle of the night in a chatty mood, so we talked for a couple hours. And now she's sleeping in."

"I guess that will make things easier for a little while." Ratchet commented, going over to look at the monitor readings. Soundwave was definitely improving now.

Two hours passed in peace and quiet. Soundwave opened his optics a little at one point, but then he closed them and drifted back into recharge when Auri, still asleep, didn't respond. A little after that, Ironhide stopped by to have breakfast with Auri, but then he left because she was still asleep.

At the two-hour point, First Aid cocked his head. "Um… should someone check on the newcomer?"

Ratchet made a face. "I'd just been wondering the same thing. Yes. And that someone would be me. And he'll probably think I'm showing up to torment him." He sighed and went, making his way to the shower facility.

He tapped on the door lightly.

"_What_." Praxus snapped, cursing at him through the door.

"Just making sure you're still around." Ratchet said,

"I'm _fine_."

"How's the soap?"

"Glitching." Praxus spat, "Now go away."

Ratchet left, and he couldn't decide whether to laugh at the young mech or to cry for him. He did neither and just sighed. He went back, and First Aid gave him a questioning look. Ratchet shook his head.

"He says he's fine. But is he ever gonna get a mouthful of soap with the way he talks." Ratchet rubbed his neck. "He's a dirty-mouthed young one if ever I heard one."

First Aid looked thoughtful. "He might be putting it up for a front."

"True." Ratchet conceded, recalling how Chromia got dirty-mouthed when she put up a front. He rubbed his neck then went over and ran a scanner over Auri, just to make sure she was fine. She was.

In another ten minutes, she was rolling over and looking around. "D' I miss anything?" she asked, sitting up and stretching.

"Soundwave opened his optics. And Ironhide stopped for breakfast." Ratchet replied, moving to get her some Energon.

"Hm. And now 'Wave is back asleep, and 'Hide's moved on." Auri stretched her wings and then settled them. "Sunny would say, 'Snooze and lose,' but that's not very nice."

"No, indeed it's not." Ratchet said firmly. He gave her the Energon cube that he'd prepared for her, and her optics sparkled happily as she reached for it.

"Thank-you!" she chirped, cradling the cube a little with a look of bliss. Then she sniffed it. "Mm…" she sipped and looked delighted.

Ratchet smiled. She was a satisfying little thing to serve food. Every meal was a delight to her, for some reason, and it was always a pleasure to watch her enjoy it. He went back to his computer, though, so she wouldn't grow self-conscious.

Auri finished the cube and ran her fingers inside it to make sure that she had all of it, and then she licked her fingers. Prowl never approved of it, but she usually did it. Often times it was just for the fun of seeing how he would respond.

Once the cube and the finger-licking were done, she slipped off her berth and headed towards Ratchet. Then she stopped suddenly and stared at the tall, dark mech who standing in the doorway facing her. His optics were visored, so she couldn't tell if her was staring at her, but he was at least looking intently.

"Hello," she greeted amiably, her optics eager. This had to be the Praxian that Prowl and Ratchet had gone after-!

"Hello." His reply was guarded.

She took a few steps towards him, looking him over curiously, and decided that he was taller than Prowl. "What's your name?"

His shifted a wing a little. "What's yours?"

She shook her head and grinned. "No-no; I asked first, silly."

His frame stiffened at 'silly'; he didn't like it. "I am called 'Praxus.'" He said defensively, "Like the city."

"Oo!" she was intrigued by that, "I like that!" she said eagerly, taking a few more steps towards him. He took a step back, but she didn't seem to notice. "That's different. My name's Aurion Blaze, but that's a little long so mostly I just get called 'Auri' or sometimes 'Aurion.' –_that_'s generally just when my guardians or someone is calling me down."

"Uh…huh." He didn't look fazed, but he was quite disconcerted. Nobody with blue optics _ever_ just came over and talked to him in a cheerful manner like that.

He glanced around to find Ratchet, but he found Soundwave first.

The words that came out of his mouth then were words that Auri had never heard before and shouldn't have ever heard.

Her mouth flopped open.

"Auri!" Ratchet snapped, startling her. He was there quickly and grabbed her arm.

She yelped in discomforted when his hand closed against her neck, and then she whined in pained confusion at what he did next. He synced in, slamming down her firewalls and tearing something out of her short term memory before it could be filed.

"Ooooow-!" she howled. It hurt, hurt, _hurt!_ She started crying because she didn't understand and because it hurt so much. She keened and crumpled against Ratchet as he un-synced.

Ratchet heard a low growling gasp and glanced towards Praxus. He saw abject horror in the way the young mech's mouth was open. And he saw the clenched fists. Then Praxus turned and ran from the doorway, and Ratchet repressed a groan.

Gently, very gently, Ratchet picked Auri up and cradled her. "Auri," he said softly. He heard a door slam hard in the hallway. "Sweet spark, I'm sorry that that hurt."

"Why did you do that?" she sobbed, "Why did you hurt me? I didn't _like_ it."

Ratchet sat down, holding her tenderly in his arms with sorrow in his optics. "Praxus said some words that were beyond foul," he said softly, "I didn't want them to get filed in your processor, so I synced into your processor quickly and deleted them so you wouldn't have them. I'm very, _very_ sorry that it hurt."

"It hurt a lot." She whimpered.

"I know, I know." Ratchet soothed, "I wouldn't have done it if there had been any other way that would have been less painful."

"It still hurts."

Ratchet rubbed her neck gently. "I'm afraid it will probably hurt for a couple hours. If you have something to keep you occupied, though, it will be less noticeable."

She sniffled and tucked her head against him. "I wanna stay with you…"

"You can stay with me." Ratchet told her.

"'Kay. 'N not go away?"

"You don't have to go away. Where did you get that idea?"

"You said I should do something."

"Oh mercy… Aurilaze, there are plenty of things to do in Med-Bay." He kept his tone gentle, but he shot First Aid a look of exasperation. It was going to be one of _those_ long days. He picked Auri up and carried her into the main room. There, he warned her to not say anything about the new Praxian to Soundwave, or to even mention him in Soundwave's room. "Is that clear?"

Auri nodded. "Yes, Ratchet. May I know why, though?"

Ratchet looked rather grim. "I just have a feeling that Praxus would rather not have Soundwave know about him."

"Oh." Auri thought about it. "Ratchet?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad we're not Decepticons."

Ratchet felt his spark melt as he looked at her serious little face. "I am, too." he said. Then he remembered the door-slamming Decepticon. "You run along back to Soundwave." He directed, giving her some copper candy. "I have something to do."

"Okay." She put a piece of the candy in her mouth and went off obediently. Ratchet braced himself for what he would have to deal with next.

OoOoOoOoO

Praxus collapsed against the door after slamming it. He sunk down, sitting on the floor. He was shaking, partially from physical weakness and partially from fear. He felt like he was going to be sick, very sick, the vomiting kind. That medic had forced a sync on that little femme, and he'd hurt her in the process as he'd crashed in where he wasn't wanted. Praxus had heard that Autobot medics were nicer than Con ones, but he'd also heard that they were just as bad if not worse. Clearly, the second report was true, and it made him sick. He was here with a medic who did hesitate to force a sync on _anyone_. The medic had had someone sync into him last night, someone who'd claimed to be a Praxian. And now this morning… the medic himself was forcing his processor into another bot's processor, violating it. Violating _her_, a much younger bot and a femme, too. Xxxxx and d-n _any_ mech who would do such a thing!

And the other medic had sat by and watched.

And, h-l, SOUNDWAVE was there. Unconscious, maybe, but he was there.

Praxus bit his lip hard. What kind of living nightmare had he been dragged into this time? He wished that he _had_ died last night. He wished no one had interfered with him. He wished that he could go back into the past and change a few things. He wished he wasn't in the Autobots' Med-Bay. He would be better off dead, really. He didn't want the medic violating his processor, or forcing him in any way.

He remembered the little femme again and felt more nauseous. What kind of medic-?

There was a soft knock on the door.

"GO AWAY!" Praxus roared. He wanted the medic as far away from him as possible. He wasn't safe. The femme-ling wasn't safe. H-l, nobody was safe.

"I just need to explain-"

"HOW THE D-N XXXXXING H-L CAN YOU EXPLAIN AWAY VIOLATING A FEMME-LING'S PROCESSOR?"

"Praxus, she had never heard those dirty words before; I synced in and deleted them from her short-term so they wouldn't get filed."

"OH, _that's_ a fritzing nice excuse." Praxus spat out, his chest heaving with rage and terror.

"Those words would have had a scarring effect on her, and they would have caused problems for her." the medic explained, "She has some delays in her system, and words are one of her fascinations. We do not condone foul language around here, and I don't want her learning new foul language and pondering it. OR parroting it."

Praxus looked down. He hated the Autobot medic, but his explanation made sense. If a little femme was at a vocabulary stage in her development, then she should definitely not be exposed to bad language. He wings lowered. He wished _he_ hadn't been exposed to it. He had, though.

"Praxus, Auri trusts me implicitly. She was upset at first because my sync hurt and she didn't know what I was doing, but when I explained it to her, she calmed and was okay. She's fine now, and I gave her some candy… that will make her forget the pain pretty quick."

Praxus could only think of one thing to say. So he said it. "I _hate_ you."

"That's understandable." The medic said. "And I'm sorry."

"Will you go away now?"

There was a pause, and it frightened Praxus. He bit his lip as his optics grew wide with fear behind his visor. There was no lock on his side of the door, and the medic could very well come in and do just what he wanted with him.

"Alright." The medic said, sounding a little sorrowful, "I'll go away now, but I'll need to come back in about an hour and do some scans on you. Okay?"

"No, it's not xxxxxing '_okay_,' xxxx you! I don't want you anywhere near me."

The medic didn't say anything for quite a few long moments, and it made Praxus uneasy. Had he gone too far? Usually his nasty words protected him, but this time he was afraid that he might have provoked the medic. He felt like huddling up in some little cubbyhole for safety. He didn't want to get injected, or "_cut,"_ or whipped, or whatever Autobots did to Cons who provoked them. Or have his processor fragmented.

"Your hate and fear are understandable." The medic finally said, "I hope, though, that time and experience will lessen them. I'll be back in about an hour if nothing comes up. Do you have any questions for me before I go?"

"One,"

"Alright."

"What's your name?"

"My name? It's Ratchet. I'm the chief medical officer."

"… of the Prime…" Praxus added under his breath with horror.

"Pardon?"

"I said, 'Oh, that's fine.'" Praxus lied smoothly.

"I'll be going then."

Praxus listened to the medic's footsteps fade away. Then he hugged himself miserably. He was scared and all alone. And there was nobody he could trust. He loosened his visor a little and slipped a finger under it to brush away a tear that had escaped one of his optics. If he could have just one thing, he would ask for a friend. He bit back a bitter sob then; he would never have a friend, he knew.

OoOoOoOoO

Ratchet went out into the main room, heading for Soundwave's room, but Prowl came in from the reception area at that moment.

Ratchet wasn't feeling cheerful. "Well, _hi_. How may I traumatize _you_?"

Prowl stepped back at the obvious snark in Ratchet's tone. "I have been traumatized enough in my life, so I shall not be asking for more." He spoke with a gentle tone, "I just came for something for the headache I've had… well, the whole morning."

Ratchet realized just how tired Prowl looked, and he felt bad for being snarky, but he didn't say so. Instead, he went over and made Prowl sit down on a berth and ran a light handheld scanner over his head and neck.

"Where did you sleep?" Ratchet asked as he put away the scanner.

"Um…" Prowl hesitated. Then he tucked his head down as Ratchet began to massage his neck. It hurt a little at first, but then the pain dissolved, taking the soreness with it. "In my office. Nh-! I did not mean to, but I did."

"Well, keyboards don't make good pillows, Prowl. You got a sore neck from sleeping like you did. And it's adding to the headache you picked up from syncing with-" he broke off then paused, "The little ray of sunshine yesterday."

Prowl stiffened. "Did he…?"

"He lived." Ratchet said.

"And…?"

"He goes by the name 'Praxus' for now. Said he didn't want any of his other names."

"Mm."

"And he freaked out when he laid optics on Soundwave, so don't mention him if you go in Soundwave's room. Just for confidentiality reasons, in case Praxus is a fugitive of something from the Cons."

"Understood." Prowl said. Then he realized that Ratchet was rubbing his shoulders. "Off." He said, pushing the medic's hands away. He didn't like unnecessary physical contact.

Ratchet tweaked his wing. "You need a shoulder rub more often, Prowl. All the tightness builds up and makes for aches and pains."

"I just need to not sleep on my desk." Prowl stated, starting to get up.

Ratchet sat him back down. "Do you really believe that?"

"Ratchet, I do not want to argue, and I do not want a shoulder rub. You got my headache to diminish, and that I all want at the moment."

Ratchet let him get up. "I think door-wingers don't know what's good for them."

"That is unfair, generalizing my whole race because of me."

"You. Auri. Bee. Sm-"

"Here now-! I will admit that Auri does not always know what is good for her, but that is only because she's so young yet. But, how can you say that about Bumblebee?"

"Bumblebee gives his all to the point that it's not good for him."

Prowl stopped. "Alright. And you were saying…?"

"Smokescreen is just compulsive and impulsive enough to make me worry sometimes. And Bluestreak-"

"Just a moment. Those are merely foibles, character quirks. _All_ the bots have them. Chromia has a temper. Ironhide… lots of things. Inferno would just as soon set fires as put them out, I think. Red Alert is just a little bit paranoid. You are over-possessive. Jolt-"

"Okay, okay." Ratchet put his hands up in surrender as he realized that Prowl could go on until he'd named every bot on base. "I see what you are saying. I apologize for my generalizations."

"Accepted." Prowl said with a nod as he turned to leave.

Ratchet smiled agreeably, but he still thought that there was something in particular about door-wingers.

"Prowlllll-!" Auri greeted joyfully, "I thought I heard your voice." She was all smiles as she came scampering from the doorway.

"Good morning." Prowl said with reserve.

"We have another Praxian among us!" she announced with a skip.

"I know; I was on the team that picked him up." Prowl said with his logical tone.

Little fists planted on Auri's hips. "I think you're bi-polar, Prowl. You were fun yesterday, and now you're no-fun."

Prowl's wings lowered in apology. "I…I have had a headache all this morning, Aurion. I apologize, but I am less 'fun' when I am in discomfort."

"Aw-!" Auri came over and hugged him. "I hope you'll feel better soon –'Cause we have to cheer up the new bot and make friends with him."

Prowl's mouth opened but the words of protest couldn't get themselves straightened out enough for him to utter them. Auri… Auri somehow had gotten the idea that he, _Prowl_, and she were supposed to make friends with the young Con who had hurt and fragmented Prowl when he synced his processor. Prowl had seen inside that mech's head, and he wasn't about to get close to him again, and he wasn't about to let Auri do so either.

"Aurrrrri. He is a Decepticon and decidedly not friendly. I synced into his processor yesterday so we could save him, and he was hateful and hurtful. He tried to fragment my processor. He is not at all what you should be exposed to."

"Maybe he was just upset at the moment." She said hopefully, "I mean, _I'd_ be upset and mean and defensive if I was in his place."

Prowl shook his head. "It was not the temporary sort of emotion."

"Oh…" Auri looked down, sounding quite sorry. "Well… maybe…" she frowned. She couldn't figure out how to reason out things to make the new mech better.

"Auri-!" First Aid called from the other room,

Auri ran off to see what he was calling her about.

Prowl looked mad. "I wish the world _was_ as nice as she wanted it to be." He said, his fists clenching a little, "It is not fair. She looks so hard to find the best in it. And then it betrays her, and I…"

Ratchet looked over at him curiously.

He stopped. "Oh… it is illogical to get aggravated about things I cannot change."

Ratchet hid a smile and went over to organize some things. Maybe Prowl _was_ being illogical, but he was being caring, and that was much better than being logical.

"Oh." He came to the Energon cube that Praxus had left. It still had a good bit of Energon in it. Picking it up, he hesitated. "Prowl, would you do me a favor?"

"It depends." Prowl said, "You know."

"Praxus left this, and he probably needs it, but I told him that I'd leave him be for an hour. I'd like him to have this before then, though. Would you take it to him?"

Prowl shifted a wing in discontent, but he nodded. "Yes."

"And take another cube, too." Ratchet said, getting one for him.

Prowl took the two cubes and went to the room with the closed door. He stood there for a moment. The mech on the other side was hateful and dangerous, raging, and his processor was darker than a dust-cloudy night on Sheolara. Prowl had met enough of that kind, and he had more than enough dealings with them. He didn't want any more. –Especially since this one was a Praxian. And especially since the fragmenting and the pain.

He'd told Ratchet he would take him this Energon, though.

He knocked on the door with an official tone.

"What the h-l!" Praxus swore at him through the door, "You said one hour, and it has glitching not been one xxxxxxing hour!"

"_I_ said nothing of the sort." Prowl said levelly with an intonation of disapproval.

"And who the glitch are you?"

"Ratchet's errand-mech. He asked me to bring you your Energon since he promised not to bother you for an hour. He does not break promises."

The door opened a crack. "That sounds halfway decent." A bit of black visor peeked through. Then the door swung open, and the mech stared at Prowl with his body braced, mouth slightly open.

Prowl lifted the Energon cubes a little, and Praxus bolted, running to the other side of the berth, putting it between him and Prowl. "You- You are- no errand-mech."

"I am when I chose to be." Prowl replied, taking a step forward so he could deposit the cubes and leave. Praxus started, though, wings flaring defensively, body bracing. It was like he thought Prowl was coming to do him some harm. Prowl continued towards him, and he backed away until he ran his wings into the wall.

Prowl set the cubes on the berth then turned and headed back towards the door. Had his spark not been walled up against Praxus from last night, the younger mech's fear would have softened it.

Prowl glanced back when he got to the door and saw that Praxus had come forward a few steps and his wings had an uncertain tilt to them.

"Are…" Praxus faltered and took a step backwards.

Prowl turned to face him. "Are… what?" he asked. He wanted to leave, but he would not be rude.

Praxus backed against the wall again. "Are… are… there… many Praxians here?" he asked, his optics on the berth.

"With your arrival, there are six of us." Prowl replied.

"Six…" Praxus echoed softly.

Prowl nodded once.

"You… are… Prowl?" It was more of a hesitant statement than a question.

"I am." Prowl said, not surprised. "Second in Command to Prime." As he said that, his senses kicked in. "And I should be welcoming you to our base." He paused, and then he pointed one pede forward and bowed slightly in Praxian style. "Welcome to NEST Base, Praxus." He said and held out a hand, palm downwards.

Praxus seemed to steel himself, but he made himself approach Prowl, doing so with much trepidation. He reached out his hand, putting it under Prowl's, cautiously curling his fingers to touch Prowl's hand at Prowl's firm grip.

"May you find it a good home." Prowl said, releasing his hand. There was definitely an aloofness about the Autobot, as well as a cool levelheadedness. And, there was no warmth in his tone.

Praxus lowered his head. "Thank-you, sir."

A couple moments later, Praxus was alone, listening as Prowl's footsteps faded down the hallway. He paused and then closed the door. Feeling drained and worn out, he dragged his pedes to the berth and climbed onto it. He realized that the cubes were still there, so he finished off the partially full one before curling up on his side on the berth.

He'd heard countless things about Prowl, and now he had met him and felt that at least a few of the things were true. He'd heard that Prowl was calculating, and he'd seen that in his optics. Such cold blue optics. Praxus repressed a shudder, but even as he did so, he felt a little dismay staring to ebb from his spark. If Prowl was as calculating and as logical as he was supposed to be, and as steady, then… Praxus would be able to trust him to a certain degree… Prowl would not be a friend, but he would hold to the law, and the law would protect Praxus as long as he stayed on the right side of it. And he meant to stay on the right side of it… so, Prowl would protect him. Hopefully. Well, Prowl might be begrudging about because Praxus had been a Decepticon, but –logically- since Praxus was no longer a Con, things should be fine. Right? After all, he hadn't done anything to Prowl personally.

Or so he thought. He didn't know that Prowl had been the one who'd synced with him. He didn't know that Prowl was firmly against him.

* * *

Yes… I named him Praxus. BUT, see, I made him up a long, _long_ time ago before I realized that 'Praxians' came from a city named 'Praxus.' And then I found out about the city, and I thought, "oops… that's… awkward. I'll just have to change how he got his name." So anyway, I had Ratchet give him the name after the city.

And my apologies for putting in the dirty language that I x-ed out. Ratchet's going to make Praxus clean it up quickly, so it will be gone pretty soon.

And… oh, yes! I must thank **Alathea2** for writing such awesome story stuff! I would have never thought of syncing processors if it wasn't for her story _Turning Points_. Best. Prowl. Story. Ever!


	15. Chapter 15

Hello! I worked twelve hours yesterday. Yep. Clocked in at 10:00 AM and clocked out at 10:00 PM. So, that was exhausting. Anyways, I have next Monday off, so next update should be on Monday. :D

* * *

Chapter 15

**Conversations, Scans, and Breaking a Habit**

Thundercracker rolled his optics and repressed a sigh of exasperation. They were getting absolutely nowhere. The assassination had gone smoothly, as had the verification of death. Now they were up to the part where they informed the Little Monsters that Soundwave was no longer in the land of the living, and they were stuck on it. Of the six flyers in the assassination team, not one of them could come up with a way to break the news to Soundwave's pestilent cassettes that any of the other flyers liked. They were going around in circles, figuratively.

"I still think _you_ should suggest to Lord Megatron that _he_ tell them." Blitzwing said, pointing at Starscream.

The majority of the gathered flyers had rude things to say about Blitzwing's intelligence.

"I already explained it once." Starscream said, "Megatron doesn't _like_ the Cassettes, so he's not going to like the suggestion. If _you_ would like to suggest it to him, by all means do so, but don't suggest that _I_ do it. I take enough beatings from him as it is."

Ramjet groaned. "_No_body likes the Cassettes."

"Why don't we _all_ go tell the Cassettes?" Thrust asked, looking at his cube of high-grade.

"That would look suspicious, you moron."

"Well, glitch you! I thought I should at least ask!"

"Well, glitch _you_ for attempting to think with that fragmented processor of yours!"

"_I_ wasn't the one who-"

"Stow it, you two." Starscream snapped.

"Pffft!"

"Hssssss!"

"I said stow it."

"Say, why don't we just leave a note." Thrust asked.

"And look cowardly? Bravo, bravo!" Skywarp sneered.

Thundercracker repressed a yawn then tilted his head back against the wall he was sitting against and closed his optics lightly. He'd already presented his three ideas, and nobody had liked them. Well, that wasn't entirely true; Skywarp had liked them until the others had had their say, and then he'd sided with the others. There was no loyalty.

Thundercracker dozed a little, half-listening to the arguments and insults.

"TC is nodding off." Blitzing pointed out.

"Thunder. Cracker." Starscream said snarkily, "Try to stay awake and be of use, _if_ you please."

"I already presented my ideas." Thundercracker stated, repressing a yawn as he forced one of his optics open.

"Wait a second." Thrust said. Then he smiled. "The Cassettes _like_ you."

"_What?!_" Thundercracker was quite awake now.

"That's right!" Blitzwing realized.

"They never antagonize you nearly as much as they do the rest of us." Thrust said. Then he grinned like he was brilliant or something. "Why don't we delegate _you_ to tell them?"

"Fine by me!" Blitzwing said, and Ramjet had no objections either.

"Yeah!" Skywarp, as previously mentioned, had no loyalty.

"Hm." Starscream paused. It irked him that he hadn't thought of it himself, but it was a good idea. "Very well. Thundercracker, you'll tell the Cassettes. –Within twenty-four hours. That way we'll have it over and done with."

"Hahahaha!" Thrust was happy with himself and laughed before gulping his high-grade.

"Yes, sir." Thundercracker answered Starscream. His wings lowered a little. This wasn't going to be fun.

He wandered off. He hadn't wanted to assassinate Soundwave in the first place. He hadn't wanted to help with it at all. He'd almost gotten out of it, but then Dirge had managed to set Skywarp off, and Skywarp had beaten him senseless. And Thundercracker had had to take his place.

Thundercracker dragged his pedes to Soundwave's quarters and pressed his head against the door with dread. He was just going to be straightforward and tell them what they'd told Megatron. Then he would close the door, and it would lock them in again.

He removed the lock that Starscream had installed, and then he knocked lightly.

"Who is it?" Ravage called.

"It's Thundercracker. Can I open the door?"

"Sure."

He slide the door open slowly, looking within with hesitant optics.

"Hi, Thunder-Blunder." Rumble greeted.

"Thunder-Blunder dunderhead." Frenzy said.

"Hi." Thundercracker said.

"So, you come to tell us why we got locked up in here for a week and a half?" Rumble asked.

Thundercracker nodded. "Yes." He said. "Well… there's no easy way to say this, but we've been trying to figure out how to break the news… that…" he faltered as his optics landed on a digital picture frame. The picture that it displayed was one of Soundwave and the Cassettes, and the Cassettes were all piled on Soundwave, cuddling with him. His spark twisted as he realized that the Cassettes were more than just little aggravating warriors. They were a family.

"Well?" Lazerbeak prodded.

Thundercracker looked down. "Soundwave was attacked by the Autobots and we were unable to rescue him. He's dead. Their medic told us himself with a smirk on his face." He paused. Decepticons weren't supposed to show weak feelings, but he… he couldn't help it. "I'm sorry." He said quietly.

There was silence for a couple seconds. Then Frenzy let out a long keening howl and ran into a different part of the room.

"Close the door and go away now." Rumble ordered Thundercracker, his small frame quaking.

Thundercracker slid the door most of the way closed then paused. "Let me know if you need anything, will you?"

"GO AWAYYYYYYYYY!" Rumble howled.

Thundercracker closed the door and double-checked the lock. Then he left, his spark heavy in his chest.

OoOoOoOoO

Frenzy popped out of the blankets he'd hurled himself into and looked curiously at his fellow Cassettes. "So, what do you think they're trying to pull?" he asked.

"I have no clue yet." Rumble said, ambling over and plopping down beside him.

Ravage padded over, Lazerbreak perching on his back. They joined the twins on the blankets.

"We would know if Soundwave was dead." Rumble said, rubbing his hand over his spark-chamber. "He isn't dead. But TC said the medic said he was."

"If we could get a hold of that footage, we'd know just what happened." Ravage murmured.

"I have been trying this past week and a half to retrieve it, and I have not been able to." Lazerbeak said.

"And if Lazy can't get footage, nobody can." Frenzy said.

Lazerbeak sighed.

"It's okay." Rumble told the avian, reaching over to pat his wing. "We know you gave it your best. Those Autosnots wiped the footage clean and hacked everything to make sure it didn't resurface, and then they did a double check. You can't beat that."

"Nobody can." Frenzy maintained. "Well… Soundwave might."

Ravage sighed.

"The feeling in my spark that something isn't right has been fading the last two days." Frenzy said. "Do you think that means anything?"

Rumble nodded. "I've felt it, but I don't know what it means."

Ravage rolled over onto his side, upsetting Lazerbeak, who flapped his wings in discontent then settled down again beside the feline.

"Well, we have a week and a half more before Soundwave is supposed to come back." Ravage murmured, "We'll see then."

"Yeah." Rumble agreed, and Frenzy nodded. Then they curled up, snuggling against Ravage and Lazerbeak. Ravage shifted a little, but didn't move away from the twins, and Lazerbeak rested his head on Rumble's pede. The past week and half without Soundwave had changed the Cassettes' attitudes towards each other. They had been working single-mindedly together, and it had strengthened their bonds of brotherhood while weakening their rivalry. They were closer than before, more unified.

OoOoOoOoO

Auri hurried to see what First Aid was calling her about, completely forgetting to excuse herself from her discussion with Prowl about… something.

"What, Aid?" she asked, bursting into the room, but then she saw Soundwave's optics glowing. "Soundwave!"

Dashing over to his berth, she carefully climbed up beside him. "Soundw-..." her optics widened when she saw the color of his optics, the burgundy hue with purple near the center. "Your optics aren't all that red…!" she marveled, putting a hand on his cheek.

He didn't say anything, but his gaze seemed to soften.

Auri bent down and nuzzled her head against his for a moment. "I know I was here the first time you woke, but I got regression, and that messes up my memory files up something dreadful. I don't remember a thing, I'm afraid." She said softly. Then she sighed.

Still Soundwave said nothing. He felt a crushing weight upon his chest, and a horrible walled-off feeling. He still could not reach out to her as he had before in the past, for his empathy-drive was still broken.

She gently stroked his throat with her fingers, and he slammed down the impulse to panic. He calmed himself, for he knew she meant no harm by the gesture. Any other being, though, would mean harm, touching his throat warned of strangling or tearing. Auri would never do that.

"Are you able to speak?" she asked hopefully, "Ratchet said you did the other day."

Soundwave half-nodded. "Yes," he said, his tone very low and quiet, "But, not much."

"I understand." She said, but her door-wings lowered.

"I… will speak more, later." He promised.

"Alright." She perked up. "You will have to tell me lots of things." She said eagerly, "Like, how you found me and took care of me, and where we lived, and what I did when I was a very little sparkling." Then she looked mad. "And you can tell those mean ol' medics the truth!" her wings flicked up, "They all say you didn't take care of me and neglected me! I tell them every time that they're horrid for lying and saying such mean things about you, but they never listen. They only listen to themselves, the meanies."

"Aurion Blaze," First Aid reproached gently, "Listen to yourself."

"Well-!?" she paused and looked confused.

"You're regressing when you start to talk like that, running me and Ratchet down and calling us 'meanies.' Your memory files will mess up again if you regress now, and you won't remember this for a little while."

"How am _I_ supposed to stop regression?! It's not like I mean to!"

"Shh…" Soundwave hushed gently, shifting his left hand. He brought it over his battered body and rested it on Auri's arm. "Fret not, My Arí. I will explain all in time. Truth: will be known."

Auri nodded. "Okay."

They were quiet for a little while, but then Soundwave's hand tensed on Auri's arm as he thought of something.

"Ironhide."

Auri's optics widened. "What about him?" she asked.

"…good to you?"

Auri hugged Soundwave. "He's the goodest I could ever ask for next to you. He takes such good care of me and looks after me with all the love in the whole galaxy. And so does Chromia, my femme-guardian. She's the goodest –best. She's the best there is, too. Only she has a temper and hurts mechs when they cross her, and I wish she wouldn't 'cause most of the mechs are my friends. Like, the other day, she got all furious at Prowl for letting me go somewhere not-completely-safe, and she thrashed him _badly_. It made me upset because Prowl's a good friend." She stopped as she realized that Soundwave might be afraid Chromia would do the same to her. "But, Chromia would never hurt me." She assured him.

She paused then and looked a little sheepish. "Well… She _has_ spanked me for being a disobedient brat a couple times, but it was necessary and much deserved. It was just with the flat of her hand and didn't hurt for too long. She would never lay a fist on me like she does the mechs. She just doesn't like mechs."

Auri went on, "And Ratchet is good to me as well. He's like a secondary guardian. He's gruff and grumpy lots of times, but he's more likely to melt. And he gives me candy. Ironhide doesn't. Ironhide gives me healthy Energon, and he balks when I ask for sweet. I think it's funny that Ratchet's the medic but he's the one who gives me sweet stuff. You know?"

Soundwave nodded as best he could, his optics softer than they had been in ages.

"Everyone takes really good care of me, and nobody mistreats me." Auri reassured him gently. "I would have run away if they had." She added matter-of-factly.

Soundwave partway cracked a tiny hint of a smile. Then he found that he was getting tired swiftly.

Auri kissed his cheek. "You're tired. You sleep now for a little while, and then we can talk more _next_ time you wake up, okay?"

"Yes." Soundwave murmured, slowly closing his optics.

Auri sighed and snuggled against him then nodded off herself moments later.

Ironhide, standing in the doorway, sighed. He'd stopped in the doorway when he'd heard Soundwave say his name, and then he had stood there listening. Maybe Auri didn't realize it, but he realized it: Soundwave was concerned that the Autobot guardians might have been abusing her. They never would, of course, but Soundwave hadn't thought that. Soundwave had assumed the worst of them, just as they assumed the worst of him.

Ironhide realized, for the first time, that there was a distinct possibility that Soundwave might have been a good guardian. A conflicted frown found its place on his face. He didn't want there to be anything good about Soundwave. Yet, on the other hand, if Soundwave had been a good guardian, that would mean that Auri hadn't come to any harm at his hands.

He paused.

Harm.

He needed to go have a word with his femme. As he understood it, from what Auri had told Soundwave, his femme had given Prowl a thrashing unbeknownst to him, and he wasn't happy about that.

OoOoOoOoO

Chromia was working out in the gym.

There was a bar parallel to the floor that could be used from chin-ups, but she used it for more than just that. She was hanging upside-down from it, her legs bent at the knee over it, and she was doing a sit-up/crunch sort of thing, holding weights as she did so. It was a part of her workout routine and had been for ages. And she had the body to prove it.

Elita was nearby, bending over as she did some slow stretches, and there was condensation on her armoring, evidence that she had been working hard not too long ago.

Ironhide automatically picked up a towel that was lying on a bench. Then he put it down as shame filled his spark. More often than not, he would give her a playful flick with a towel when he found her and Chromia working out together. She always blushed, and it was a great source of amusement.

His spark wasn't in it now, though. The memories of how badly he'd treated her two weeks ago were still too fresh in his mind. He could never be that disrespectful again as long as he remembered the incident so clearly.

"Hey, mech." Chromia greeted, and Elita straightened quickly.

"Hello," he replied, "Good afternoon, Elita."

"Good afternoon, 'Hide.'" She greeted warmly even as her optics flicked to locate the nearest towel.

Ironhide's optics lowered. He went over and picked up the towel off the bench and brought it over to Elita. "Looking for this?" he asked, no playfulness in his tone.

"Rather." She said, her optics curious.

Gently, he brushed the towel against the side of her face to wipe off some of the condensation. Then he laid the towel on her shoulder. "There." He said softly.

"Someone call Ratch," Chromia teased, "'Hide's got some kind of virus."

"Courtesy isn't a virus." Ironhide said, going over to her. "How long until you are done here?"

"Why?"

"I wish to speak to you on a serious but not urgent note."

"Let me finish this set and cool off, and then I'll be all yours."

Ironhide nodded and stepped back to watch. He admired every bit that he saw, but he worked to stay focused on the fact that they were going to have a serious talk.

A few minutes passed and then,

"Done." Chromia said with grunt. Elita stepped forwards to take the weights for her. Once she was free of the weights, Chromia curled up and grasped the bar with her hands. Then she put her pedes up, got her legs off the bar, and hung there by her hands for a second before dropping down.

"Shall I go?" Elita asked,

Chromia nodded. "Sure. See yah."

"See you later." Elita said. She gave Ironhide a smile, hugged him briefly, and then headed for the door.

Ironhide and Chromia watched her go, and then Chromia looked up at Ironhide questioningly.

"What gives, mech?" she asked then motioned for them to walk so she could cool off.

Ironhide fell into step beside her. "I stopped by Med-Bay, and it came to my audio-processors that you thrashed Prowl recently."

"Ahhh." Chromia didn't sound thrilled.

Ironhide looked over at her.

She looked up at him, regret in her optics. "I did. He let me, though. He _could_ have stopped me, but he chose not to." She looked down. Then she told him the full story as they walked.

Ironhide listened, never interrupting, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Oddly enough," Chromia added softly, "He trusts me more now… now that I've hurt him. And… well… I… I respect him now. I… I guess because now I see that he… I don't know." She stopped walking and stood. "I just know that he has my respect to a degree that he never did before."

Ironhide paused. Prowl had won more than just more of Chromia's respect; he'd won more of Ironhide's as well. Ironhide had always thought well of Prowl, but now he felt a greater sense of admiration for the younger mech. It took a lot of spark, will, and understanding to take one of Chromia's beatings and come out the better for it.

Ironhide's optics rested on his femme gently. "It's almost impossible for a mech to win your respect." He said softly, "But… I think that he wins it by showing that he understands and bends to your needs."

Chromia smiled hesitantly. "Could be. That _is_ what Prowl did. I think he's a special mech."

Ironhide paused then resumed their walk. "Does Auri think so as well?"

Chromia grinned. "Have you finally started to realize that he should have her?"

Ironhide took a deep intake of air. Then he let it out slowly. "He admitted to me that feelings for her are stirring within his spark."

"He did?" Chromia asked softly, "Really?"

Ironhide nodded. Then he sighed. "He is so, _so_ conflicted about it."

"It will take some time then." Chromia said.

"Don't forget that you promised not to push." Ironhide reminded gently.

"I won't forget." She said, smiling up at him.

OoOoOoOoO

Ratchet had knocked on the door a couple times, but he'd not received an answer, so he decided that he would just go in.

Opening the door slowly, he peered into the room that held the young Con he'd named 'Praxus.'

Praxus was there, curled up on the berth, an empty cube on the floor and a full one clutched loosely in his left hand. He was in recharge.

"Hello, Praxus," Ratchet said, checking to see how deep of a recharge the mech was in. Praxus didn't respond, so Ratchet went to the foot of the berth and gave Praxus's pede a nudge. That didn't bring any response either, so Ratchet rubbed the mech's ankle, pinching just a little bit.

It was safest to wake a strange Cybertronian that way, touching the pede or ankle. Sure, one could get kicked doing so, but a pede didn't hurt as much as a fist or claws, or, if one was dealing with a Praxian, a door-wing. Door-wings could hurt pretty badly if they hit at the right angle.

Praxus stirred sluggishly. Then his visored optics found Ratchet's blue ones. He was sitting up in an instant, giving Ratchet a good kick, and then flipping off the berth and losing his balance. He landed on the floor with a sound thud.

He sat up after a second, looking dazed. "Dangit." He said cheerfully, "You spoiled a perfectly nice dream."

"Are you okay?" Ratchet asked, noting that the wings were flaring unsteadily.

Little chuckle. "What the xxxxxx is that supposed to mean? I've got the d-n Con brand on my chest, and you have xxxxxing blue optics."

Ratchet looked exasperated. "Are you going to stay here?"

Praxus paused. "Yes. Please?" he quirked the corners of his mouth up into something like a hopeful smile, revealing slightly fanged canines. Then the smile twisted into a grimace. "If the room quits spinning. I like my rooms stationary."

Ratchet went over and pulled him up by his arm, then put him against the berth, bending him over it.

Praxus was too disorientated to resist or question Ratchet's treatment, but he looked confused. Then he shouted in pain as one of Ratchet's wrenches connected soundly with his backside.

"Hold still and keep quiet until I'm done." Ratchet said.

Praxus sunk his teeth into his lower his lip as the wrench landed on his behind three more times. It stung. Behind his visor, he blinked in confusion. What on earth had he done?

Then Ratchet let him up.

"Slaggit, I just polished-"

Ratchet pinned him down again and left another bruise.

"Ow!" Praxus yelped.

Ratchet let him up.

Praxus took an unsteady step backwards, away from the pain-inflicting medic. All that had hurt considerably, and he knew that was a reason, but he couldn't figure out yet why the medic would hit him. Ratchet didn't seem like the sort to give a beating without cause. There had to be a logical reason behind the medic's actions. "What-"

"Sh!" Ratchet hushed him.

Praxus didn't say anything else but cocked his head and wings in an expression of curiosity.

Ratchet's face was stern. "We don't appreciate foul language around here, and I am not going to tolerate any of it in my Med-Bay. You are going to clean up your talk, or you are going to find yourself with a pretty sore aft. A lick for every dirty, foul, or offensive word you say. Do I make myself clear?"

Praxus blinked at him from behind his visor. Did the medic just say-?

"Well?" Ratchet prodded.

"You're not even translucent to begin with; how do you expect to be clear?"

The wrench dropped out of subspace again. It probably hadn't been wise to try to diffuse the tension with a smart remark this time.

"Ah! Like that. Yes-sir, I see; you're clear." Praxus grinned at him with a nod approval.

"Good." Ratchet said firmly. The way Praxus's wings trembled, though, made his spark ache. "Alright." He said more gently, "Now that that's settled, we have a number of scans to run on you. Every new mech or femme who comes here has to have these scans. They're not optional. Are you ready?"

"You're the doctor." Praxus said, "Lead on."

"Alright." Ratchet said, "This way. We have another room for our various scanners."

Praxus hesitated then followed the medic carefully. "We won't go near Soundwave, will we?" he asked, sounding serious for the first time that Ratchet could remember.

Ratchet glanced over his shoulder at the young mech. "We won't." he reassured him. "Any particular reason why you're not eager to be around him?"

"H-l," Praxus started,

"Natch." Ratchet said, stopping and turning towards Praxus.

Praxus stopped. "'Hell' isn't-"

"It all depends on how you use it, and you were using it in an offensive way." Ratchet said. "Face the wall."

"Hi, wall." Praxus said, facing the wall. Then he winced as Ratchet landed the wrench on his after-plating.

"So," Ratchet said, starting back down the hallway.

Praxus paused then fell into step after him.

"Why the fear of Soundwave?"

"Well," Praxus said, "If you knew anything about Soundwave, and you had deserted from the Decepticons, you would want to stay as far away from him as possible. I don't know what you Autosnots-"

"How's that pronounced?" Ratchet asked, pausing mid-stride.

"Autobots, sir." Praxus said promptly.

Ratchet cocked his head then continued down the hallway as Praxus heaved a silent sigh of relief.

"You were saying?" Ratchet prompted.

"I don't know what you Autobots do to your deserters, but Cons are hardly lenient with theirs. In fact," he said cheerily, "Just for the record, if anyone decides that I get handed back to the Cons, _you_ should offline me instead of letting them do so. If the Cons got me, I'd die a slow painful death after a couple weeks of brutalization. Since you're a medic, your morals and or vows or both should drive you to act with mercy."

Ratchet stopped and stared at the young Cybertronian who talked in such a light tone about so dark a subject matter.

Praxus stopped. "I didn't say xxxxx or anything."

"Well, _now_ you did." Ratchet said, dropping his wrench from subspace.

"Aw, dang-ifff" he found Ratchet's hand clamped firmly over his mouth.

"That's not going to help any." Ratchet said, looking reproachful. "Turn around."

Praxus turned and put his hands on the wall. "Hi, wall, I'm back again." he said with a conversational tone as he braced for the stinging blows he'd been promised.

Ratchet wondered about the young mech's sanity a moment, but then he swung his wrench. Once. Twice. That made eight licks that he'd given Praxus in the past ten or fifteen minutes. Mercy, this was going to be rough. He hated inflicting pain, and now he'd bound himself to it as long as Praxus used unacceptable language. And Praxus wasn't showing any sign of letting up soon.

He repressed a sigh and opened the door to the scanner room. He motioned Praxus in, and the young mech moved past him into the room.

"D-"

Ratchet turned and found Praxus chewing his lip. He watched as the winger shifted his wings uncertainly.

"D-daresay I've not seen any tech this nice in a long time." Praxus commented deliberately, and his visor hid the anxious but hopeful look he shot towards the medic.

"Nice save." Ratchet said, giving Praxus a nod of approval for catching himself. "And we are pretty proud of the tech we've been able to build since coming to earth."

Praxus hesitated then flicked a wing lightly. "So, who's this 'we' you keep mentioning? I mean," he grinned, "You've mentioned 'we' like three times now, and I've only seen you."

"I have two junior medics who work under me. That's usually who I mean when I say 'we,' but sometimes I mean us Autobots."

"Okay." Praxus said flippantly, "Just wanted to make sure my doctor wasn't a schizophrenic." He smirked mischievously.

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge. "I've been doubting your sanity as well." He said.

"I haven't met a sane Con yet." Praxus quipped.

"Do they all address walls when facing them?" Ratchet asked deliberately.

"OH, that." his wings almost lowered, but he flicked them upwards lightly, "Nonsense eases tension, sir." He stated, "I might have panicked otherwise."

Ratchet paused, amazed –and touched- by the honesty of the young Con's words. Taking a few steps, he approached Praxus, making him look up at him again.

"I appreciate your honesty a great deal." Ratchet said sincerely, "Thank-you for being open with me."

The right wing shifted upwards in a bit of a shrug. "Not every Con is a liar." Praxus said lightly. Then he grinned a little grin. "Nor is every liar a Con."

"I'm _well_ aware of that." Ratchet said emphatically. "Now, take a seat on that berth, and we'll get started on the scanning process."

Praxus went and sat carefully, easing his backside onto the berth.

"Alright…" Ratchet murmured, looking over a data-pad. "Name: Praxus. Date of arrival on Base: mm-hm. Date of scan: uh-huh. Age… how old are you, Praxus?"

"Not as _old_ as you." Praxus said, pulling a cheeky smile.

"I can put some more mileage on your rump if you like."

Praxus chuckled then told him his age and birth date.

"Thank-you." Ratchet said. "Do you wish to include parental information?"

"No, sir." Praxus said firmly.

"And what was the last planet you were on before you came here?"

"Mars. Xxxxxing awful place."

Ratchet looked up from his data-pad.

"Oops." Praxus said, his wings flicking up like Prowl's did when Ratchet caught him working overtime.

"Get up and turn around." Ratchet said, and Praxus did as he was told.

The wrench hit an already bruised location and stung more than last time. Praxus took a sharp intake of air.

"How long were you on Mars?" Ratchet asked, returning to his data-pad. No answer came, though, so he looked over at Praxus questioningly.

He found that the Praxian hadn't sat back down, and the little canine fangs were set against Praxus's lower lip.

"Praxus?" Ratchet asked, using a gentle tone.

"Two days and a half –by the Mars clock." Praxus said quietly.

Ratchet sighed and put the data-pad away. Then he put a hand gently on Praxus's shoulder. The young Con, surprisingly, didn't flinch or try to move away.

"I know it's rough." Ratchet said gently, "And I know it hurts. Praxus, I don't enjoy inflicting pain. I'd sooner not lay another blow on you, but you must be taught not to talk the way you do."

Praxus said not a word, but Ratchet felt his shoulder tense.

"I'm sorry, Praxus." Ratchet said gently, "I am." He said. Then he paused before going on, "I've really appreciated your honesty and openness. And the fact that you seem to trust me to a certain degree. I like that in you. Those are good things. Your respectfulness, when you choose to show it, is a good thing, too. Your foul language takes away from all that, though, _and_ it poses a corruptive threat to our young femme. It's like a rust virus, ugly and detrimental. The medicine isn't pleasant, but it works. And," Ratchet added quietly, "I wouldn't dose it if I didn't care."

Praxus shrugged, and Ratchet took his hand from the younger mech's shoulder. "Alright." Praxus murmured. '_I wouldn't if I didn't care…_' Ratchet's words echoed softly in his processor. Ratchet cared?

Ratchet waited a couple moments to see if Praxus had anything else to say, but he didn't, so Ratchet retrieved his data-pad. "Where were you before Mars?" he asked, the gentleness staying in his tone.

Praxus named a planet outside earth's solar system and lay down on his side on the berth. "And I was there for one of their months, which is roughly two of earth's months." He said, his wings lowering tiredly.

"And how long have you been on earth?"

"Fifteen days."

"No Energon?"

"Not one-" he broke off quickly. "Mm. No, sir. No Energon."

Ratchet nodded to him that he was alright. "Did you have any on Mars?"

"No, sir."

"Add space travel to that, and it's no wonder you were nearly offline when we found you." Ratchet commented, syncing the data-pad to a computer. "Okay, now that that's done, we can get to the actual scans. I need to take a life-Energon sample from you first so we can make sure you don't have any viruses in your life stream."

Praxus didn't answer, and Ratchet turned to find that the young mech's door-wings at a drowsy angle.

"Praxus,"

Praxus flicked his wings up. "Sir?"

"You can recharge when we're done, I promise. Now, though, I need to take a life-Energon sample from you first so we can make sure you don't have any viruses in your life stream."

Praxus sat and loosened a bit of his arm armor so Ratchet could stick a needle in and draw out some life-Energon. He watched as Ratchet approached, and Ratchet wondered what was going on in the young mech's head. Praxus's mouth was open just a tiny bit.

"You're not going to panic when I jab you with this, are you?" Ratchet had to check. Dealings with Prowl had firmly ingrained it into his processor that he had to check before inserting a needle into anybody's arm.

Praxus shook his head, his expression not changing.

Ratchet inserted the needle and drew out a bit of live-Energon, filling a small vial. Praxus seemed mesmerized by the process to the point that Ratchet almost found it amusing. Once the vial was full, Ratchet removed the needle and took the vial over to a scanning machine, putting a few drops in the machine and putting the rest into storage for further, later tests.

Returning to Praxus, he put a little patch on the mech's arm where the needle had gone in, and then he motioned that Praxus could replace his armor.

"Now what?" Praxus asked, swinging his pedes a little, carelessly, first one and then the other.

"Optics." Ratchet said, not having to look at the list to know. He had the list memorized by now. "We have to check how well you see."

The pedes stopped swinging, and Praxus stiffened apprehensively.

"It won't hurt, and it will only take a few moments." Ratchet reassured him. Then he added with a sense of foreboding, "You'll need to remove your visor for that time period, though."

"No!" Praxus objected, his wings flaring defensively. "I won't!" he scooted backwards on the berth a bit.

Ratchet felt things get stressful. "I promise nothing bad will come of it. It's just for a few minutes."

"No, no, NO!" Praxus ended up shouting the last 'no.' He scrambled off the other side of the berth, putting it between him and Ratchet. "_H-l _no!"

"Now I have to swat you again." Ratchet said reproachfully, "Get over here."

Praxus braced himself. "You can lick me for cussing, but you can't make me take off my visor."

"Now." Ratchet said.

Praxus bared his fangs a little but went around the berth to the medic. He bent over the berth and took the swat. Then he dropped down and rolled under the berth, coming up on the other side.

"No. Taking. My. Visor. Off." He ground out, his fists curling.

"There are two ways to go here." Ratchet said, hating himself and his job, "The first way goes like this: you take off your visor and let me scan your optics, and then you put your visor back on. The second one goes like this: I catch you and lie you down on this berth, immobilize and restrain you, pry your visor off and scan your optics, and then I may or may not allow you to have your visor back, and I may or may not remove the restraints. Which will it be?"

Praxus started to shake. Then he swore at Ratchet, cursing him with a variety of ugly words.

"Stop!" Ratchet ordered with anguish, feeling his spark ache at the mere prospect of having to inflict more swats on the young Con. "_Praxus_."

Praxus stopped and bit his lip. "I hate you."

Ratchet looked down. "I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"I'm sure." Praxus said, and Ratchet couldn't tell if the young mech was being scornful or sincere.

There was one thing Ratchet did know, though. He absolutely hated his job at the moment. He looked away, his shoulders slumping a little. He hated it that he had to subject Praxus to a scan he didn't want, and that he'd taken on the task of making the young mech clean up his language. He did wish Praxus's optics weren't hidden by a visor, but he didn't wish it badly enough to torture the young mech. And torture was exactly what Praxus thought Ratchet was doing to him. Ratchet had learned to be tough as a field medic, but now his spark ached more than anything at the prospect of being hard on this poor young Praxian.

He sighed. He didn't _like_ having his patients fight. He didn't _like_ being hated. But his feelings weren't what bothered him. It was the fact that his patients had fear and hated his procedures. _That_ was what bothered him. It was their anguish and suffering that bothered him. He was a medic because he wanted to end or at least alleviate pain and terror, not increase it.

He closed his optics for a couple moments. If only he could make everything bad go away. If only he could make things better and less stressful for all his patients. If only-

"Ratchet." Praxus said quietly. There was something like compassion in his tone, mixed with respect.

Ratchet made his optics focus and brought them up from the floor, shifting them to look at Praxus. Then he felt a sense of shock.

Praxus had removed his visor and was standing there with it in his hands. His optics were the deepest, purest purple that Ratchet had ever seen. And there was a haunted bitterness in them, but it was overlaid with sympathy and reverence at the moment. Ratchet was mesmerized for a couple moments, but then he moved, slowly. He went over to Praxus's side of the berth and focused the optic scanner on first one optic and then the other.

"Does the left one give you problems?" Ratchet asked, looking at the readout.

"Only after prolonged periods without recharge." Praxus answered quietly, "I'm talking a day and a half or two: that kind of prolonged."

"I see." Rather murmured, looking down at the readout again. That's what it indicated. Other than that, Praxus's optics were in fine condition. "Alright. You can put you visor back on if you like."

Praxus hesitated a moment and made Ratchet the recipient of a deep searching look. Then he ducked his head and replaced the visor, hiding his optics once again. He felt safer then, with his telltale optics covered, and he gave the medic a winsome little grin, belying the churning sensation in his tank.

"That wasn't so bad now." He said, tossing a wing a little. He paused. What had he forgotten? Oh… His wings lowered. "Oh," he said off-handedly, forcing his wings back up "I guess you owe me about a spanking's-worth of licks for my rant back there." He commented.

"I guess I do." Ratchet murmured halfheartedly. He took out his wrench slowly. There was something spark-melting about this Praxian Con. He was fearful and vulnerable, but he dealt with it by pretending to be light-hearted instead of getting nasty. And he wasn't _bad_. In fact, it was clear that he had a good spark somewhere in his dark little spark-chamber. The whole thing over his visor had proved that; just when Ratchet had felt ready to break, Praxus had given way to him –with a _great_ deal of respect and sympathy.

A little chuckle brought Ratchet back from his musings. One corner of Praxus's mouth had turned up; a tiny bit of a shy grin was there.

"I like you, Ratchet." Praxus said. "First you're like, 'Grrrrrr, you little punk; Imma bust you every bad word you say.'" Praxus swung his fist upwards as his wing flared threateningly. "And forty minutes later you're like, 'Ooowahhhh, Primus, I'm hurting him!'" Praxus flopped over the berth, covering his head, his wings fluttering in anguish. Then he slipped off the berth, dropping to the floor with a moan.

Ratchet winced as he felt the impulse to laugh at Praxus's dramatized summation of his dealings with him. And he repressed a smile as he suspected that the Praxian was just a little bit of a comedian.

Praxus picked himself up smartly and gave Ratchet a cheeky smile.

Ratchet felt himself start to smile back; then he curbed it and looked stern. He opened his mouth, but he wasn't sure what to say. He didn't what to do with this young-ling.

"Be consistent, Ratchet." Praxus said, lowering his gaze, "Get it over with. I think it's five or six or seven." He added quietly, positioning himself for the blows.

Ratchet _knew_ it was seven. The wrench stopped at five, though.

Praxus didn't move to get up when the wrench stopped. He was wondering, puzzled by something. Certainly each blow stung, but none of them ever hurt like the blows he'd received from various Decepticons; they didn't stab his spark or make him feel sick. They were firmly corrective, not sadistically punitive. Was… was this _loving_ discipline? '_I wouldn't dose it if I didn't care,_' Ratchet had said. Ratchet… cared… so… it must be. _Loving_ discipline.

"Praxus?" Ratchet touched his back gently.

"Yeah?" Praxus jerked from his thoughts.

"You alright?" Ratchet asked.

Praxus nodded. "Yes." He said, and he felt that he was indeed alright. "I just wandered off in thought." He added, climbing onto the berth and lying down on his side. "What's next?"

"Next," Ratchet said, "You'll need to lie face down, and be perfectly while this scanner runs over you."

Praxus eyed to large arm-like scanner that sat on a wheeled base. "Looks… friendly." He commented then lay down as directed.

Ratchet positioned it. "It'll take about fifteen minutes to run." he let Praxus know,

"That's long time." Praxus murmured. Now that he was lying down, he felt drowsy.

"I'm sure you're probably getting tired, but you need to stay awake."

Praxus sighed.

Ratchet stopped a put a gentle hand on the young mech's shoulder. "Can you do that?"

Praxus pause then retracted his visor and looked up at Ratchet, studying him a little. Then he nodded. "If you'll help, I can." He said, and he never knew how much those few words of confidence warmed the medic's spark.

"Alright."

Praxus left his visor retracted, and his unhidden optics followed Ratchet's hands as Ratchet deftly finished programming the scanner and started it. Once the thing was humming softly, Ratchet drew up a stool and sat facing Praxus. A hint of a smile touched the edge of the young Con's lips then slipped away.

Ratchet studied the young face, and in return, he knew, he was studied. He wondered at Praxus, that a young Con would trust him as readily as Praxus seemed to. He was impressed, too, by the fact that Praxus seemed to be quite respectful of him behind his flippant and cheeky veneer.

The purple optics dimmed a little,

"Nope," Ratchet said gently, "Keep those online."

Praxus blinked his optics deliberately but quickly, and Ratchet watched him refocus them on him again.

"My fault for being boring, I suppose." Ratchet said, teasing gently. A little smirk touched Praxus's face, and Ratchet knew the young mech appreciated that remark. "In truth, I really am not all that interesting." He added, "I'm just a medic… who does medic things and has always done medic things… and went to medic school. I actually trained specially for sparkling care and worked in a sparkling hospital and clinic before the war got bad. That, I liked…" his optics softened as he looked away, "I loved those little bot-lings. Every single one of them was a treasure. I saw their potential, and I nurtured them through their stays and visits. I made friends with every little one I worked with, just about. And it seemed almost every day that I wasn't at work that I went out in the city, some sparkling would recognize me and want to say hi. The older ones would want to stop and talk, and I'd give them my time. Outside of work, I had pretty much nothing to do." He paused, "The parents usually seemed to think I would be too busy for a little one outside work, but that was never the case."

He looked back at Praxus and found that the young Con was studying him again, looking thoughtful but attentive. Ratchet half-smiled then told him more about his medical career.

The fifteen minutes were over quickly, and Ratchet got up to reprogram the scanner for a different set of scans. "I'll need you to lie on your back for this one." He said, "Is that going to be very uncomfortable?"

"Nope." Praxus said, "The pain relays are all shot out; I don't feel a thing in my wings or connectors."

Ratchet frowned. "We'll need to fix that. Are you getting data-feed?"

"Almost none. Actually, I'm surprised I still have as much mobility in them as I do."

Ratchet sighed. "We'll have to take care of that once you've had some rest."

"I'd feel a whole lot better if that was just '_I'll_' instead '_we'll._'" Praxus said, rolling over gingerly. He winced then settled down. "I don't like strange medics tampering with my wings."

Ratchet had his back to the young mech, so he grinned. Praxus had only know him since breakfast-time but already considered him _not_-strange. That warmed Ratchet's spark considerably. He carefully hid the grin, though, as he turned back to Praxus. "Well, First Aid is excellent with door-wings, so I'll probably have him help me so it won't take as long, but I'll keep your preferences in mind."

"Thannnk-cue." Praxus said, smiling up at him. The smile, Ratchet noticed, almost made it into the purple optics, but the bitter sorrow that dwelt there kept it out.

"Alright. This scan is ready to go." Ratchet's finger hovered over the button. "You can talk during this one if you like, but keep your body still."

"Okay. So, no laughing."

"No laughing." Ratchet said. Then he pressed the button.

"Will this one be as long as the last?" the question came after about forty seconds.

"I'm afraid so."

Praxus faked a smile. "That should be fun."

"At least we're not still using the first one we built on earth." Ratchet said. "It took four times as long."

Ratchet tensed up when Praxus opened his mouth. Then Praxus paused and closed it without saying a word. "Wow." He said after a moment.

A smile touched the medic's face then, a smile of relief and approval, and Praxus's optics flicked upwards to catch it. Ratchet gazed down at him then, meeting the purple optics. Then he studied Praxus, taking in the purple chevron on his helm and the antennas on either side of his helm, the un-Praxian build of his body, along with his un-Praxian height, and his very Praxian door-wings.

"I know you said you didn't wish to volunteer parental information," Ratchet said after a couple moments, "But, I'd be very interested to know about your genetics."

"Red-opt mech, jet. Blue-opt femme, Praxian." Praxus said, "Femme was purebred; the mech wasn't completely. He looked purebred, reddest optics you've ever seen, but it came out in his CNA that he wasn't. Purebred traits ran stronger, so that's why I got so many Praxian characteristics. I'm half door-winger, half jet, and half red, half blue. All mech. Too tall for the Praxians, too short for the jets, plus I'm ground-ridden. Too Con for the Bots, and too Bot for the Cons." He fell quiet. A moment passed. "I'm a misfit." He said quietly, and his misery glimmered in his optics.

Ratchet shook his head. "That's a negative way of thinking, Praxus. You're unique."

"Ratchet, you'd be negative too if your 'uniqueness' painted a target on you for bullies and tormentors." A glint of anger showed in Praxus's optics. "Think before you criticize me. _Please?_"

Ratchet nodded quickly, realizing that he had come close to hurting the young mech's feelings. "Yes." He said, "Yes, Praxus. I will. And I am sorry that I did not think of that before I spoke."

The anger faded, leaving only misery.

"Here at NEST," Ratchet said gently, "We are a handful of scattered bots from various places with different experiences. Few of us have many things in common. We have learned to value and respect our differences to good degree. Mm, I can't say that _every_body has, but most of us have. I meant not to criticize, Praxus, but to encourage."

Praxus glanced up at him with a hint of humor. "Encouragement noted, sir."

The scan finished a little while later, and Ratchet told Praxus that he could get up.

"We aren't finished by any chance are we?" Praxus asked as he stretched.

"Three more."

"H…. uh." He grimaced. Ratchet continued to type into his scanner.

"These shouldn't take so long, though." Ratchet said comfortingly. Then he started when he heard a sharp, hostile hiss. He turned quickly and found Praxus facing the doorway, his optics visored once again and his wings lifted threateningly. First Aid was standing cautiously in the doorway.

"Ah." Ratchet said, "Praxus, this is one of my junior medics, First Aid. Aid, this is Praxus."

Praxus's door-wings flared warningly. "Hello,"

First Aid nodded to Praxus. "Hello." He greeted; his tone gently amiable.

Ratchet turned away for a moment to double check an equation, and Praxus's lips drew back just a hint, revealing his little fangs to First Aid.

First Aid edged over to Ratchet. "Magnus stopped by to see you." He reported. "He seems just a little harassed."

"Ah." Ratchet said. "I'm guessing that might be Prowl's or the Twins' work. I'll go see him." He handed a data-pad to his junior medic. "Here, I have the scanner ready. Run this scan for me and then the next one if Magnus delays me that much longer."

"Alright." First Aid said, but there wasn't much confidence on his face.

"Praxus," Ratchet started,

"Please don't leave me." Praxus said without hesitation. Ratchet's spark melted instantly. He had responsibilities, though.

He went over a put a hand on the young Con's shoulder. "First Aid is every bit as capable at running a scanner as I am. And his bedside manner is less heavy-handed and rough than mine. He won't hurt you or say anything mean. I wouldn't leave you with him if I didn't trust him to take good care of you. Now, I need you to cooperate with him. Will you do that for me?"

There was a heavy pause, but then Praxus nodded. "Yes, sir. I will cooperate."

"Thank-you." Ratchet said sincerely. "I'll be back as soon as possible." He glanced over at First Aid, and then he placed his trust in both of the young mechs and left the room.

He headed up the hallway and found Ultra Magnus waiting in the main room.

"Hello, Magnus." He greeted, "What can I do for you?"

"You could sedate me for the next three days until Prowl gets over his processor-ache." Magnus said dryly.

"That wouldn't be fair to your substitute." Ratchet said, but he gave the tall mech a sympathetic look.

"I know, I know." Magnus sighed. "Well. Anyway. Prowl chewed me up about not getting my report in to him in a timely manner, and then he remembered that you hadn't turned in your report, so he started in on _all_ the bots on base and reports. I only escaped by telling him that I would come see if y-"

"OOOOOW!" First Aid's howl of pain came from the other room down the hallway.

Ratchet looked irked and mad and then concerned. He started towards the hallway, but Praxus came running up it, First Aid not far behind.

"I-"

"HE BIT ME!" First Aid yelled as he and Praxus thundered into the main room. Magnus started back with a look of fury when he saw the black door-winger.

"Praxus!" Ratchet looked shocked. "You promised me that you'd cooperate with First Aid."

"I did!" Praxus sounded affronted that Ratchet thought he hadn't. "I did cooperate! I did! _He_ didn't. So I _bit_ him."

Ratchet repressed a howl of dismay.

* * *

You guys wanted a cliff-hanger, right? No? Hm. Anyways, next week will be here by and by, and then we'll about First Aid and Praxus. Annnnd, we'll see more about Magnus and his response to Praxus, and Auri and Praxus will have some time together.

And I have a picture of Praxus up on deviantArt now. He's wearing his visor, but I'm working on another picture where he's not wearing it. Check it out:

cairistona. deviantart art /Praxus -384872894


	16. Chapter 16, Conflicts and Camaraderie

A very good day to you all! Here's my lovely new chapter update! X)

If Prowl, Praxus, or Auri say something, and the sentence is in italics, that means they're speaking in Praxian dialect. Okay? Enjoy the door-winger fluff! ;)

* * *

Chapter 16

**Conflicts and Camaraderie **

"Well, _that_'s not very civilized." Ratchet said dryly, going over to them. Praxus and First Aid were standing side by side like quarrelsome young-lings waiting for an adult to render judgment on whichever one was the offender. Praxus was trembling a little.

First Aid held up his hand for Ratchet to inspect. Ratchet took it gently and looked it over, scanning it a little.

"Not too serious." Ratchet said, but he knew it was painful; hand-wounds always were because of how many nerve-wires ran through them. "It just needs washed and bandaged." He gave his junior a curious look, "What did you do to set him off?"

"I put my hand on his shoulder, like I do everybody." First Aid said, looking a little upset with himself, "He growled at me and told me to get it off, so I did. But a couple moments later, I put it back because I forgot. It's _habit_, you know. I always put a hand on my patients' shoulders. And, well, then he bit me." He looked down. "It's my fault, I guess. I asked for it. –but I didn't _mean_ to."

Ratchet sighed. "Praxus," he said gently, turning to the defensive Con-ling, "I understand your action, but please don't repeat it. First Aid didn't mean to cross you. You could have just said a word and he would have taken his hand away. Okay?"

Praxus darted at an uneasy glance at First Aid then lowered his head to Ratchet. "Yes, sir."

"First Aid…" Ratchet paused. "In the future, be more careful about respecting your patient's contact and personal space preferences."

"Yes, sir." First Aid said firmly, nodding his head.

Ratchet gave his shoulder a pat. "Alright. Praxus, First Aid is going to show you where our first-aid supplies are and get a disinfectant and some bandaging. And then you are going to wash and bandage his hand."

Praxus didn't move. He seemed frozen. Then, though, he started to tremble almost imperceptibly.

Ratchet moved over to him and stood by him; standing to his right and facing him, Ratchet put his left hand on the small of Praxus's back and his right hand on Praxus's shoulder. Magnus had only ever seen guardians do this with their young ones. His left fist clenched.

"Listen," Ratchet said kindly, "You and First Aid both simply acted on instinct and out of habit. I'm not punishing you. I'm just asking you to repair what you damaged. I need to do something for Commander Magnus for Commander Prowl."

"I don't want him running my scans." Praxus said softly, lowering his head as well as his wings.

Ratchet paused. "You wash and bandage First Aid's hand while I finish my report for Magnus, and then I will run your scans. Alright?"

Praxus nodded.

"First Aid won't give you trouble. Just be gentle. Hand-wounds are pretty painful."

Praxus nodded again.

Ratchet turned and found Magnus glowering at him.

"Did you just _negotiate_ with that little beast?" Magnus demanded. First Aid froze at the rage that had filled the typically calm commander's tone, and Praxus flinched.

Ratchet looked displeased with Magnus's word choice. "I did negotiate." He said firmly, "But Praxus is not a little beast."

"I beg to differ," Magnus bit out, "Look at its insignia."

Praxus covered the hated logo on his chest with hands as his face burned.

"Not your standard Con insignia." Magnus said, his optics flickering with hatred, "It's one of Megatron's Youth. And they. Are. Monsters."

"No more than any other C-" First Aid tried to intercede gently, but Magnus cut him off,

"You have no idea, Aid. None _whatsoever_. You and I entered the war when we were fully grown. These young monsters are bred for it. They're not even _half_ grown when they're taught to kill and wreck havoc. They're trained so hard they become machines; they don't think. They. Just. Kill. They're programmed for it, and they _like_ it." He took a menacing step towards Praxus.

Praxus stepped backwards, showing his teeth in fear.

"Don't you bare your fangs at me, you little fiend." Magnus warned, "You're-"

"That is _quite_ enough." Ratchet said sternly, finally overcoming his initial shock at Magnus's words. "Magnus, leave him be. He left the Cons. Stop _scaring_ him." He ordered, seeing how hard Praxus was shaking. "Praxus," gently, "Go with First Aid and take care of his hand."

First Aid felt a little dizzy with fear and anger, but he motioned for Praxus to come with him. Praxus followed him to the first-aid area.

"Here's the disinfectant," First Aid said quietly, getting a bottle from the cupboard, "And cleaning cloths, and…" he pulled a drawer open, "This bandage." He got out a rolled up strip of bandaging. He stole a nervous sideways glance at the trembling Con beside him and was dismayed to see a tear escaping from under the visor and rolling down Praxus's cheek.

First Aid paused, unsettled and uncertain. "Um…" he paused again. "D-don't listen to Magnus. He's… he's having a really bad day." He bit his lip as a second tear rolled down Praxus's cheek. "Here, I'll pour a little disinfectant on this cloth, and then you can wash my hand with it. Okay?"

A huge sense of relief filled First Aid when Praxus nodded minutely.

"Okay." First Aid said, "Can you hold the cloth so it's not on the counter?"

Praxus shuddered, but he moved a hand and picked up the cloth. Carefully, First Aid twisted the lid off the bottle and poured some of the liquid onto the cloth. A little spilled on Praxus's hand, and the half-Con flinched.

"It's alright." First Aid reassured him, setting the bottle aside. "Now, just wipe to cloth over the wound, gently but firmly." He put his hurt hand flat down on the counter and surreptitiously balled up a good-sized piece of bandaging in his other hand. He was going to need it to hold onto when the pain hit the hand wound.

Praxus did as he was directed, and First Aid's fingers dug into his balled-up bandaging. Praxus worked quickly but effectively, almost professionally, cleaning away the life-Energon and wiping away the fresh life-Energon that came oozing up. He squeezed the cloth, making the disinfectant trickle over the wound to make sure that it got in well. Then he got a new cloth and poured some more disinfectant on it, going over First Aid's hand a second time.

A third cloth was used to dry First Aid's hand, and then Praxus firmly wrapped the bandaging around the wound, tying it off neatly.

First Aid looked at Praxus's work, clearly impressed. "Nicely done." He marveled softly.

Praxus didn't say anything, nor did he look at the junior medic.

First Aid paused and then put the bottle of disinfectant away. He started to wipe the counter.

"First Aid," Praxus's voice sounded hollow, lost,

First Aid stopped and gave his attention to Praxus.

"Will you finish my scans, please?"

"You don't want to wait for Ratchet?"

"I want them done so I can sleep."

"Alright." First Aid said gently, his spark twisting at Praxus's miserably unhappy tone, "I'll run them for you."

Praxus started for the hallway, and First Aid followed after putting away the disinfectant. "Ratchet," he called over to his senior. Praxus halted, and Ratchet looked up from report he was hastily finishing up. "Praxus requested that I finish his scans so he can rest sooner. We'll be back there."

"Alright." Ratchet said, "Make sure his Energon levels are good, though, before you let him go recharge." He added as he headed into Soundwave's room.

First Aid nodded. "Will do." He said.

"And you watch your back." Magnus warned sharply.

First Aid looked mad as he whirled to face the commander. "I only need watch my hands!" he retorted, optics snapping. "You've got a glitching lot of nerve saying these things about a mech you've hardly even met _just_ because of the insignia he has branded on his armoring! He's not even with the Cons anymore, and he hasn't done a thing wrong since he got here!"

"What about fragmenting another mech's processor?"

"Any one of us would do that in a similar position, and you know it! You're being-"

"First Aid," Praxus said, closing his fingers around the junior medic's arm, "Come on and finish my scans," he said firmly, "He _thinks_ he knows my type, but I know his. He will never listen to you or be entreated; your attempts to defend me to him are pointless and a waste of time."

"But-"

"My body needs care more than my honor needs defending."

"Like it _has_ honor." Magnus sneered.

First Aid lunged at the tall commander, but Praxus jerked him back firmly. First Aid balled his fists.

"Let that go." Praxus ordered calmly, "We gain nothing by fighting him. Now, come and finish my scans so I can get the rest I need." His tone was quiet and commanding.

First Aid relaxed his fists. "Alright." He said quietly, but he gave Magnus a furious look.

Praxus's wings lowered, and, releasing First Aid's arm, he started down the hallway towards the scanner room. First Aid came after him, muttering something.

On entering the scanner room, Praxus went and sat on the berth, placing his hands on the berth in a nonthreatening way. "What position am I to lie?" he asked. He swiped another tear away quickly, but First Aid caught the motion.

First Aid checked the list, pretending he hadn't seen. "On your back, and… your midriff armor needs to be off so the scanner can-"

"Spare me the details." Praxus's fingers were shaking as he started unclasping the armor that covered his middle; they were shaking hard, but he managed to remove the armor. He set it aside as First Aid turned to him.

The young medic gasped, his optics widening at all the scars that crisscrossed Praxus's sides and belly.

"I filled my quota for the next couple centuries, so I thought I'd settle down somewhere peaceful for a bit." Praxus joked softly, giving the junior medic a bit of a grin.

First Aid swallowed and looked faint, a little sick.

"I'm guessing you don't work in the triage center." Praxus asked, lying down on the berth.

First Aid shook his head. "Only when I have to." He said, forcing himself to speak. "I don't do well with it."

"Well, clearly." Praxus smirked at him a little. "What did you train for?"

"Stay still." First Aid hit the start button the scanner. "I trained for first-aid, as my name denotes."

"Ah." Praxus half-smiled, "Neither you nor Ratchet are here for what you originally trained for. What's your third medic trained in? Maternity ward?"

First Aid snorted as he repressed a laugh. Then he chuckled. "No." he said then grinned. "Definitely not. Jolt would not do well with pregnant femmes. He trained for repairs. He's the only one here who's doing what he originally trained for."

Praxus smiled briefly but had nothing to say about that.

First Aid finished the scan and then loaded another program into the scanner. Then he sighed. "It'll take a minute or two to be ready." He said, apology in his tone.

"'Kay." Praxus murmured, his fingers tracing one of the longer scars across his belly. He shifted and looked over at the junior medic. "Hey, what's the deal with Soundwave?" he asked quietly.

First Aid looked wary. "He got shot down."

"Why not kill him on the spot?"

"We think he might have information that we could use."

"Why was the little femme in the same room with him?"

First Aid paused.

"Don't insult my intelligence by trying to lie to me." It was a quiet order, and First Aid found that unsettling. And quite out-of-bounds.

"You aren't in any position to order me about." First Aid told him firmly. "And, I was not going to lie to you. I merely paused because I was debating whether or not I was going to tell you. Some things are classified, you know."

"Sorry." Praxus mumbled. "She just shouldn't be near him. No one should."

"We know there are risks." First Aid said, speaking gently. He didn't want to offend Praxus. "Scanner's ready now." He said, noting the status bar with relief. "I'll just have you roll over and lie face down for this one."

Praxus rolled over as bidden, and a short time later, the scan was complete. One other scan followed, and then all the scans were done.

First Aid checked his patient's Energon levels then. "You'll need at least half a cube of Energon before you go recharge." He said.

Praxus started replacing his midriff-armor. "'Kay." He muttered. Then he left while First Aid was putting the data into the computer system.

He went back to his room and picked up the cube that Prowl had brought for him that morning. Taking a sip, he tasted it. Then he spat it out. _That_ did not taste like the other cube had tasted. He wondered if it was poisoned. That Magnus commander might have slipped in and poisoned it.

Taking the cube with him, Praxus ventured into the main room, hoping Ratchet was there and Magnus was gone. Such was not the case, though; he found things exactly the opposite. Magnus was there. Ratchet wasn't.

Praxus took a step backwards when he saw Magnus, and Magnus's optics locked onto him with a cold and deadly look.

"R-Raaaatchet?" Praxus called uneasily. There was no answer. Praxus's optics flicked towards the cupboard with the Energon, and he knew Magnus would never let him get to it. "Ratchat?" he called a little more loudly, a little more urgently.

Ratchet came in from Soundwave's room. "What is it, Praxus?"

"This doesn't taste right." He held up the Energon cube.

Ratchet crossed the room. "That's because it's med-grade Energon. The cube you had earlier was regular. I let you have it this morning, but a lot of reg-grade isn't good for your weakened system at this point. You need to have med-grade for the rest of the day."

Praxus stood there with the cube in his hand, thinking about that and the fact that the cube could be poisoned. "Could I have a different one?"

"One med-grade tastes just like the next, Praxus. I'm afraid you won't find the taste any better."

"I don't trust Energon that's been sitting around unattended." Praxus said quietly.

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge. Then he went over to the young Con. Praxus's wings lowered in a non-threatening manner, as did his optics. Ratchet took the cube and ran an Energon scan on it.

"It's fine, Praxus." Ratchet told him.

Praxus looked at him, and Ratchet was pretty certain he was getting a doubtful look from behind that visor. Ratchet lifted the cube to his own lips and took a drink of the med-grade. The doubtful look continued. Ratchet drained half the cube, and Praxus twitched a wing.

"Now finish it." Ratchet ordered, putting it in Praxus's hands.

Praxus sipped warily. Then he gulped it down, every last drop, and put his fingers inside the cube, swiping them along the side.

"Oh, no you don't." Ratchet hurried over and took the cube from him. "Auri already does that. Let's not reinforce the habit. I'm getting you a second cube." He went over to another cupboard and opened it, but then he smacked the door closed, a very annoyed expression on his face. _Someone_ hadn't refilled the stores when Ratchet had asked him to.

"Ratchet," Auri came into the room.

"No." Ratchet said, "You wait. I'm going to the store room. And I will be back in some minutes, and you will still have to wait." He stalked off. "Glitching needy door-wingers." He muttered under his breath.

"Well!" Auri looked astonished, "Who put sludge in _his_ Energon!" she looked around, "Praxus-!" she started towards his with a happy smile of greeting.

"No, you don't." Magnus ordered, intercepting her and hauling her back a few steps. "You don't go near that creature."

Praxus felt his face burn again at Magnus's words.

"He's not a creature, Magnus." Auri said innocently, "He's another Cybertronian."

"It's a monster, and you're not to go near it. Is that clear?"

Auri stared up at Magnus. Magnus would never lie to her, but his words seemed too harsh to be true. She looked over at the other door-winger. He was black like Ironhide, but with a little purple flame detailing. His fists were clenched, his lips tight. A tear was making its way down his cheek… he… he was crying… because… Magnus had called him an "it" instead a "him." It-things didn't cry.

"I'm not sure, Magnus." Auri said, "He's a '_he_,' not an '_it_.'"

"'_He'_ is a monster, and you're not to go near '_him_._'_" Magnus reiterated. "Is that clear?"

Auri hung her head and wings. Prowl… Prowl had said that morning that Praxus wasn't the sort she should be exposed to. Both Magnus _and_ Prowl didn't want her around this mech. "Yes, sir." She said in a sad little voice. "But, I'm not _happy_ about it."

"Auri, listen," Magnus said gently, crouching down to her level and putting a kind hand on her shoulder, "It is for your safety that I forbid you to go near him, not to be mean. There are many different kinds of Cybertronians, and he is one of the kinds that you should never go near. The corps that he is from does such horrible and evil things that Ironhide would thrash me if I dared tell you about them. It is that bad."

Auri looked over at Praxus again and saw the angry set of his wings. She looked back at Magnus. "Well… I don't think _anybody_ is reprobate."

Magnus looked at her with regretful optics. "You are young yet." He said, his spark heavy. "You have not seen and experienced what I have, and I hope you _never_ do. But _that_ semblance of a Cybertronian over there is a spark-less, _soulless_ creature who will only do you harm. You are to stay away from him."

Auri looked conflicted.

Ratchet came back then to her relief, and Magnus rose.

"Here you go." Ratchet said, handing a cube to Praxus.

Praxus took it listlessly and headed for his room. Then he paused and turned back to face Ratchet. "Thank-you, sir." He said respectfully, dipping his head and wings a little. Then he resumed his course for the relative safety of his room.

Once the door was closed behind him, Praxus climbed onto his berth and drained the cube. Then he curled up in fetal position. He knew he was going to have nightmares, but he was too tired to care.

OoOoOoOoO

Evening came and morphed into night. Night was long; it seemed to last an awfully long time, and then morning finally showed up.

Praxus opened his optics and found himself lying on a mat on the floor. His shifted and gazed up at his berth, wondering drowsily why he was down here instead of up there. He felt sore. For the first time in weeks, though, he didn't feel like he was about to die of starvation, and he liked that. He shifted a little more and found his backside aching dully of bruises.

Ratchet…

Ratchet cared.

A determined look formed on Praxus's face. He was going to do his upmost that day to not call any blows from Ratchet's wrench. And he could succeed. He had enough self-discipline to do so.

He lay there and played the events of yesterday in his head. Ratchet. Auri. Prowl. The scans. Ratchet again. First Aid. Ultra Magnus. He bit his lip as the memories of Magnus's treatment slammed into him with sickening pain. If there was one bot on base he could count on to make things miserable for him, Ultra Magnus would be the one.

_"Did you just _negotiate_ with that little beast?  
"Look at its insignia.  
"Don't you bare your fangs at me, you little fiend.  
"Like _it has_ honor.  
"You don't go near that creature.  
"It's a monster, and you're not to go near it. Is that clear?  
"That semblance of a Cybertronian over there is a spark-less, soulless creature."_

Praxus dug his fingertips into his palms. He told himself that he shouldn't care what a stuck-up Autobot commander said, but it hurt. It hurt excruciatingly. –Particularly because a commander was a trusted and followed being. Whatever he said and ordered, others would believe and follow. Ultra Magnus would poison everyone's opinions, and nobody would ever befriend Praxus.

Praxus bit back a keen of misery and curled up protectively. The whole world hated him, or so it felt.

Then he paused his thoughts as his audio processors picked up a sound.

"La, da la-ah, nah-ah-ah la," someone sang softly in the other room. Praxus knew it was the little femme Auri, and he knew that song.

"_Slumber, slumber, dream and dream,_" she sang Praxian words now. "De da de da La-ah lo…" and then she was back to nonsense words. "Um-duh, dah-ah nah-ah-ah oh, _Watch you_… um nah nah noh…"

Praxus got and up went to the main room, stopping in the doorway. Auri was in the main room, tidying up some things.

"_Light…_" she paused. Then she hummed the note. A sigh followed, and she seemed to give up; her wings lowered.

"_Do you not know the words_?" Praxus asked in Praxian dialect without thinking.

Auri jumped, her wings flicking up as she turned to face him. Then she shook her head. "_I… I don't_." she said, regret in her tone as she answered in Praxian. "_My creators were left before I could memorize a memory, and my new guardian weren't a Praxian. Someone singged this song to me when I was _regressed _and sleeping a half, so my memory files about it are nearly almost impossible to decode_."

Praxus twisted his lips at her painfully imperfect Praxian. Her accent on many of the words was flawless, albeit smacking of the city-center upper classes, but her word choice seriously left something to be desired.

"_I will be still learning our tongue._" She added apologetically, noting his grimace. "_A year ago I didn't speak a verb of it._"

"_You are coming along well, then._" Praxus decided to say. Then he hesitated. Then, softly, he said, "_I know the words to that song_."

"_You do_?" Auri asked eagerly, her face lighting up, "_You could sing them so I could know what they are?_"

Praxus lifted a wing uncertainly as his optics made a quick search of the room. No one was in sight. But… she'd been forbidden to be around him by Ultra Magnus. He didn't want her to get in trouble because of him. He paused. "_Didn't Ultra Magnus forbid you to be around me?_"

Auri paused and then spoke in Cybertronian standard to make sure she didn't get any words wrong. "He forbade me to be _near_ you. As far as I see, you aren't very near. And neither is Magnus. He's in his office."

"That's some dangerous reasoning there…" Praxus felt torn between wanting to give in and sing for her and wanting to make sure that she didn't get in trouble for being near him.

"Come on." She coaxed, "Please? Prrrretty please?"

He remembered all too clearly how she'd cried and writhed when Ratchet had forced a sync with her. He didn't want Magnus to do anything similar to her.

"I cannot. If Ultra Magnus-"

"Forget Magnus!" Auri's wings flicked up indignantly, "He's not my guardian anyway!"

Praxus's optics widened. "Who is?"

"Ironhide. And Chromia."

"Dang!"

"You shouldn't say that." Auri looked at him with disproval.

Praxus felt his face heat. "Didn't mean to." He mumbled,

"Well, alright. I _have_ heard worse." Auri said, seeing how embarrassed he was. "Ironhide forgets sometimes during battle practice with the other mechs." For some reason, Auri smirked when she said this.

Praxus barely managed to summon up a half-smile. Ironhide could easily kill him. Ironhide… he'd read the files on Ironhide, and that mech was… well, a monster.

"Please sing the song for me?" Auri coaxed, "Do I have to bribe you? I have copper candy and some attempted Praxian crystal candy that isn't much like the real thing."

Praxus felt his mouth warm. To taste candy again…

"Okay." He heard himself say. Then he mentally slapped himself upside the head. 'No! Don't do that!' some sort of conscience ordered, but his tongue overrode it. Candy…

Auri grinned happily and produced a handful of copper candy from subspace. "You might find the attempted _Praxcryscan_ offensive." She said.

He smirked. "I think you just don't want to share it."

She giggled. "That's not true. I'll add a piece of it so you can see for yourself."

"Okay."

"You must sing the song first, though."

Praxus nodded. Then he paused, feeling a little nervous, self-conscious. Another moment passed, and he gusted cool air through his system. "Okay." He said.

She looked eagerly at him, waiting with sparkling optics.

He looked down. Then, softly, he began to sing. "_Sleep, m' sparkling, gently sleep,_  
"_Slumber, slumber, dream a dream,  
"Dream sweet dreams o' Praxus land.  
"Helix garden crystals gleam,  
"Watching through the night,  
"Light your face and guard your spark  
"Sleep, m' sparkling, sleep,  
"Slumber sweetly, dream an' dream,  
"Dream a dream o' Praxus-_" He broke off and chuckled an embarrassed little laugh as he realized that that was his name now. "It's sort of awkward to be named after one's city." He said apologetically.

Auri grinned. "I don't mind." She said happily, "Is there more?"

Praxus nodded. Then he continued the song, _"Dream a dream o' Praxus,  
_"_Fairest Praxus land;  
"Home o' your father,  
"Home o' your mother,  
"Sister, brother, an' you.  
"It lights your spark with Praxian light,  
"An' in your optics it glows,  
"Blesses you wi' chevron an' wings,  
"An' fondly gives its name.  
_"_Slumber, slumber, dream a dream,  
"Dream sweet dreams o' Praxus,  
"Fairest Praxus land."_ He ended the song there although there more verses, and he looked to Auri for her approval, finding it readily. Her optics were shining with joy, and her lips were parted slightly in a marveling smile.

"_That was very, very wonderful, Praxus!_" she said, speaking in Praxian again, sounding entranced.

"_Thank-you_," he said softly, bowing a little.

"_Um…_" she looked at the candy in her hand. "_I will give this to you how?_"

"_Toss it_." Praxus said, sounding cheerful.

She tossed one piece, which he caught deftly, and then second piece and a third.

"_That is good_." Praxus said, "_I wouldn' deprive a femme-ling of her candy stores._"

"_Oh, I have lots_." She said. "_Why, I think…_" she paused and then switched over to Cy-Standard. "I think half the candy that gets made here ends up in my hands." She chuckled when Praxus's jaw dropped with doubt. Then she explained, "See, I'm the youngest on base, not even in my final form, so all the older bots treat me like I'm a sparkling and give me candy. And some of the not so older ones. And my twins, who I adopted as my brothers even though they aren't always well-behaved. And so, I end up with lots of candy. But I share it."

Praxus smiled, uncertain as to how to answer her. Nobody ever talked to him in such a confiding tone as that.

"_Will you going to try a piece now?_" she asked hopefully, going back to Praxian "_I think not that you've had any candy in a long time._"

He felt his face warm a little as he realized how transparent he must have been in accepting her bribe. A sheepish grin found its place of his face. "_I guess it was kinda obvious._" He said. Then the grin faded as he saw that Auri's optics had widened in dismay and her mouth had fallen open. "_What's wrong?_" he asked, a bad feeling growing in his spark.

"Why do you have fangs?" she asked in a frightened little voice.

Praxus felt his optics sting behind his visor. "They're implants." He said as steadily as he could, "They're…" he felt himself starting to tremble, "Weapons. F-for b-biting and t-tearing in battle."

"Oh…" her optics were dreadfully wide now.

"Auri," he'd never said her name before, but he did now in desperation, "Wh-what Ultra Magnus says about Megatron's Youth, that… that _is_ true. But it's no longer true about _me_. I left them a _long_ time ago. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I left. I am _not_ spark-less, and I am _not_ soulless."

Auri's face softened, and the fear went away. "I… I didn't think you were." She said softly. "Because you were crying."

His wings twitched, and his face burned with shame at having been caught with tears on it. He wanted to disappear.

"See," Auri said earnestly, "Spark-less, soulless things don't cry because they don't care. But, you did cry because you do care."

There was a pause as Praxus processed this. Then,

"oh…" He said softly. He had never seen it that way. The Cons had pounded it into him that crying was a sign of weakness. And, of course, anyone who was weak got bullied. He stood there a little while, turning Auri's words over in his processor.

Then Auri interrupted his thoughts, "_It's alright, Praxus._" She told him gently in Praxian.

He half-smiled.

"_Now, eat your candy will you?_" she asked.

Praxus looked down quickly at the candy in his hand. He'd forgotten it. He made a decision to put the past aside as much as he could and focus on the present. "_Oh, yes!_" he said. He couldn't help but smile as he put one of the sweets in his mouth, and then, once he tasted it, a bitter happy grin found its place on his countenance. Auri only saw the happy part, the grin of his mouth, but in his optics, still hidden, the grin was bitter. "_It's marvelous copper candy, Auri._" He said, meaning it with his whole spark.

"_You shall have more then_." Auri decreed. "_Oh, oh. IF Ratchet says it's okay_."

"_Mmm_." Praxus purred at the bliss of it.

"_Oo! I nearly forgot the_ _Praxcryscan_."

"_Praxcrycan._" Praxus corrected.

"_Oh! Oh, yes. Thank-you. I learned that word… not many days_. _I don't know it good yet._"

"_Ah_." Praxus said. He watched as Auri came over to where he was. Apparently she'd forgotten about Ultra Magnus.

She took a box from subspace and opened it, offering the contents.

Praxus peered at the ersatz Praxcrycan curiously. "_It _looks_ like it_." He commented.

"_It doesn't have the taste. Prowl said thus. I don't know because I never had some."_

The thought of Prime's aloof and chilling Praxian Second-in-Command eating Praxcrycan with this little femme was an amusing and curious thought.

"_Go see what you think_." Auri said.

Praxus smiled as he bit back a chuckle. He wondered if she knew just _how_ bad her Praxian dialect was. He was pretty sure, though, that she had no idea how cute it made her. He moved a little bit closer and picked up a candy crystal. He licked it and looked highly doubtful. Then he put it in his mouth.

"_Well?_" Auri asked, quite unable to read his expression.

"_Someone really ought to be court marshaled._"

Auri giggled. "_That's… too much hard, sternness_."

Praxian grinned. "_'Severe' is the word you want, I think."_

Auri wrinkled her nose. "_I forgetted that one."_ She admitted with a chuckle. "_The lists are too long sometimes."_

_"Vocabulary lists? –Word- lists."_

Auri nodded. Then she paused. "_Vo-ca-bu-lar-y._" She repeated the long word carefully.

"_Good._" Praxus nodded. "_You said it well_." Then a growl of hunger came from Praxus's belly. He pressed a hand to his middle as his face warmed in embarrassment.

"You haven't had breakfast!" Auri looked dismayed. Before Praxus could reply, she ran over to a cabinet and got out a med-grade cube. She brought it over to him and gave it to him. "You drink that _all_ before you have any more candy, mech."

Praxus smiled at the slightly bossy little guardian tone. "Yes, ma'am." He said, a hint of playfulness in his tone as he took the cube. He drank a few gulps and then decided that he wanted to sit, for he was still feeling drained and worn out. He sat down on the floor, and a moment later, Auri was sitting on the floor as well… not very far away, either.

"What color are your optics?" she asked.

Praxus paused. "Purple." He said then drank some more.

"Can I see?"

"No." he felt a little mad. "I'm not an exhibition."

Her wings lowered at his tone. "I didn't mean to offend. I just wanted to see your optics. I think purple optics would be pretty."

Praxus tilted his Energon cube and eyed her with doubtfulness. '_Pretty_' had never been one of the descriptors of his optics. "Really?"

She nodded firmly.

He hesitated then retracted his visor. He wasn't sure exactly what Auri thought then, but she didn't seem overjoyed. A sadness filled her expression.

"They're a beautiful color." She said softly,

He nodded, and then the visor hid his optics again. She'd seen the bitterness and pain.

They were quiet for a little while, Praxus drinking his Energon without a word, but then Auri moved a little closer.

"You were screaming last night." She said softly.

Praxus looked down.

"Ratchet said you were having nightmares."

"Uh-huh." he felt humiliated.

She reached out and rested her fingertips on his arm gently. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry that you have nightmares and that I hope you'll be able to sleep better tonight."

Such compassion was mildly confusing to the young Con, but he recognized that Auri was reaching to him in kindness.

He ducked his head a little. "It's alright." He said, "Um, thank-you." He met her optics hesitantly behind his visor. "I should be sleeping better within a couple days."

"I'm glad." She tilted the box of ersatz Praxcrycan. She paused, "Fake as this is, would you like another piece?"

Praxus chuckled shyly. "I'd rather have more copper candy –if you're offering."

Auri giggled. "Okay. Have some more copper candy." She gave him a handful. "I really shouldn't have given you any of that fake stuff."

"It's oh-kay. I was curious. I hadn't-"

Med-Bay door opened, and both door-wingers looked up to see Prowl walk in.

"G'morning, Prowl!" Auri greeted eagerly as she rose and scampered over to him. Praxus got to his pedes swiftly.

Prowl let Auri hug him and returned her warm hug with a brief and light but sincere one. "Good morning." He said, "Did you not recall what I said yesterday about Praxus?"

"I forgot after a while." Auri said, looking a little mad. "He's not evil!"

Prowl paused and then opened his mouth to speak, but Auri cut him off.

"Magnus was _horrid_ to him yesterday like I couldn't believe! I was so mad that I couldn't even react!" her frame was shaking a little, and Prowl was disconcerted to see tears in her optics. "Why, he- he- called Praxus a monster and a creature, _and_ he forbidded me to be around Praxus and said Praxus was spark-less and had no soul!"

Praxus thought it would be handy if he could just sink into the floor and never be heard of again.

Prowl put a gentle steadying hand on Auri's shoulder to calm her. "What Magnus said was overly harsh." He said quietly, choosing his words _very_ carefully. "It is difficult to desert from the ranks of the Cons; few ever have the commitment and courage to do it. Since Praxus _has_ left the Cons, you may be fairly certain that he has divorced himself from the worst of their practices. However, that does not mean that he is a well of virtue."

Auri seemed to be processing this heavily, so Prowl paused to let her think it over while he planned his next words. He wanted to outright forbid her from keeping company with fanged M-Youth at all, but he saw that she was defensive of the black winger and knew that forbidding her would make her upset. And she didn't need to be made upset; she had enough stress as things were.

"Well?" she asked reproachfully; she could see that he had more to say to her. And she didn't look like she was happy about it or eager to hear it.

"You should not 'hang out' with him." Prowl said gently, reasonably, "But if you chose to do so, you must not be without supervision."

Prowl saw the resistance leave her expression and a look of respect and trust replace it. "Alright, Prowl." She said, her utter confidence in him restored. _Prowl_ wouldn't be unreasonable like mean Ultra Magnus. She knew that. "We'll have supervision next time we talk." She promised.

"Good." Prowl said. "Now, go summon Ratchet for me please."

"Yes, commander." She said. Then she was scampering off to find the medic.

Praxus and Prowl were there. Alone.

Prowl, as the second highest ranking Autobot on base, had every right to bore through Praxus with his optics. So he did, scrutinizing the Decepticon who'd tried to fragment his processor and succeeded to a small degree.

Praxus, as a rank-less Decepticon deserter, had no rights at all. So he stood there and took the scrutiny, wings lowered in submission. There were things he wished he could say to Commander Prowl, but he couldn't, not unless Prowl spoke to him first.

"Mark my words." Prowl said quietly, a warning note in his tone, "I spoke with logical generosity to Auri concerning you, but if you wrong her in way whatsoever, you will find me neither logical nor generous. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"_What_ do you understand?" Prowl interrogated.

"I understand, sir, that if I were to wrong Auri, I would face severe and extensive punishment." Praxus answered, "I would never wittingly incur that punishment, though, sir." He added.

Prowl's optics narrowed. "Explain."

Behind their visor, Praxus's optics widened in horror. How could he explain that would never do something? His fight or flight systems started kicking in. He was going to fail to answer the question properly and he would get beaten. And it was only his second day on Base.

"I…" He hesitated a little to buy some time, and then the words came tumbling out. "I would never incur that punishment because I would never wrong Auri. Or any other femme. Or any Autobot. The day I saw a femme turn a weapon on her sparkling and herself to escape _us_, the M.Y., was the day I resolved to leave the Decepticons and never harm another femme or sparkling again." He tensed as he felt his wings start to shake. And he began to feel a little sick as well. This wasn't good.

The sound of Auri's footfalls came echoing up a hall, though, and he was saved from further interrogation.

Auri came into the room with a little skip. "He'll be here in a minute." She reported cheerfully.

"Thank-you, Aurion."

"You are welcome." She dipped her head a little, noting the formality of his tone.

Nobody said anything then. Auri disliked the silence, and she had to do something about it. "Prowl," she said,

"Yes?"

"Praxus and I spoke in Praxian to each other a little, and he has a different accent than you."

"That happens when Praxians come from different places or parts of the city." Prowl replied.

"But I come from nowhere in Praxus, so what's my accent?"

"I believe you have my accent."

Auri turned to Praxus. "What accent do I have?"

The half-Con hesitated. "Upper-class, city-center." he said quietly.

"Is that where you came from, Prowl?"

"Yes."

"Where did you come from, Praxus?"

"Western sector."

Auri stood on one pede. The mechs were using as few words as possible and not elaborating on _anything_. "You mechs are really talkative." She said pointedly.

Praxus could say nothing because Prowl was standing there.

Prowl gave Auri an apologetic look. "I have little to say about accents this morning." He said gently, "But perhaps we could talk about them later."

Auri sighed. They were impossible.

Ratchet came in then. "Well, good morning to half the Praxian population on earth." He greeted, smiling.

"Good morning to the one and only very best chief medical bot on earth!" Auri replied, hugging him. She was pretty sure Praxus and Prowl were going to make him irritable soon, so she wanted to have him as happy as possible first.

Ratchet picked her up and held her a moment before setting her down and turning his attention to Prowl. "Well, Prowl, what can I do '_to_' you today?"

"Resolve my helm-ache." Prowl said.

"This early in the day?" Ratchet asked. It wasn't even breakfast for most bots yet, and Prowl typically refused pain-killers until after lunch.

"I awoke with the ache and decided to have you alleviate it early on rather than waiting until it started affecting me negatively."

"Finally! Thank-you, Prowl! You learned!"

Prowl looked mildly discomfited, which meant he was wholly discomfited. "When I was made aware that my pain-induced ire yesterday caused me to react to such a degree that it made _Magnus _touchy, and he in turn made you irascible, I realized that I needed to take preventative measures in the future. I do not wish to have _all_ the door-wingers on base classified as 'glitching needy wingers' because I neglected to tend a helm-ache."

"Oh… he told you I said that?" Ratchet looked uncomfortable.

"Only to reproach me for my treatment of him." Prowl stated.

"It's not all your fault, Prowl," Auri interceded, hurrying over to him. "It's mine and Praxus's faults as well. Praxus was asking for another Energon, and I came in to ask him something, all at the same time Magnus was trying to get the report for you."

Praxus saw Prowl's optics, resting on Auri, soften a little as she spoke.

"Even as that is," Prowl said gently to her, "I was a major contributor, and I do not wish to be one in the future. It would be irresponsible of me."

"That's complex." Auri said, looking serious as she mulled his words over.

"Many things are." Prowl told her, "For countless things are interconnected." He turned to Ratchet then. "What manner of pain-killer are you going to administer?"

"Well, I'm assuming that you've already had breakfast."

Prowl nodded once. "I have."

"Then drinking the painkiller won't be an option. And you get sick half the time when we try a tablet or pill, so that leaves us with your least favorite method."

'_Needle injection…_'

Prowl shifted his wings uneasily then nodded wordlessly. He looked over to Auri.

Auri came and stood before him, holding out her hands palm downwards. "It's alright, Prowl." She said comfortingly and firmly. They had been working on this.

He put his hands under hers and gently grasped them, making and keeping optic contact.

"What the Cons did a long time ago is past, and it will not happen today." Auri spoke the well-practiced words gently and encouragingly.

Prowl repeated the words after her. "What the Cons did a long time ago is past, and it will not happen today."

"You will not come to harm by Ratchet's needle."

"I will n-not come to harm by Ratchet's-s-s… nnnnnuh-huh." He just couldn't say the last word.

"He brings healing, health, and well-being, no harm."

"He brings healing, health, and well-being, n-no harm."

"This needle will make you well and remove pain, not sicken or cause pain."

"This-s-s… will make me well and remove pain, not sicken or cause pain."

"It's good. You will be fine."

"It is good. I will be fine."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

Prowl's fingers tightened around Auri's hands a little when Ratchet touched his shoulder, but he was careful not to squeeze her hands too hard. He didn't want to inadvertently hurt her. He focused on _her_ rather than himself.

Ratchet got the needle in the back of his shoulder and injected the painkiller. Then it was done.

Prowl sighed shakily in relief. Then he loosened his grip on Auri's hands and let go.

Stepping forwards, the little femme hugged him. "I think this time was the best you've handled it yet, Prowl." She said joyfully.

"Thank-you." Prowl murmured, looking down at her. It had been indeed. They had made a great deal of progress in the past few months. The first time had been dreadful, with him panicking and her nearly getting trampled. She'd been terrified, but she'd stuck it out for him, and now… it was so much better. "Thank-you for sticking through and helping me get here." Prowl added softly.

Auri stepped back to smile up at him. "You're welcome." She said fondly, "You're one of my best and dearest friends, and most esteemed commander; I'm honored to help you."

Praxus was completely caught up in watching them, mesmerized by how the three Autobots had worked together with perfect empathy and patience. Of course, some Decepticons worked well together, but Praxus doubted that there was that degree of empathy –if any at all- amongst his former faction. And he'd never thought of the Autobots, "the enemy," being any better than his faction. He marveled a little.

And he liked Ratchet all the more. It was obvious that Prowl had some fear of needles, but Ratchet wasn't binding him down and forcing them on him; Ratchet was taking the time to let Prowl and Auri work on calming Prowl and preparing him mentally for the shot. Ratchet was kind to Prowl. And… suddenly, Praxus remembered yesterday when Ratchet had been readying a needle to stick in him to draw out some life-Energon; Ratchet had asked to make sure it wouldn't upset him. Ratchet had been treating him with the same care and compassion. Ratchet hadn't wanted to jab him with a needle without making certain that he would be alright with it beforehand.

Ratchet, he decided, was the best medic he could ask for. He could probably trust him implicitly. Of course, as a former Decepticon, he didn't trust anybody at all, let alone anybody implicitly, but maybe with a little time and work, he could come to that point with Ratchet.

"Hey," a strange voice said behind him. Attacker!

Praxus spun to face his enemy with a horrifying war-screech, fangs bared, his arms raised with knife-like talons springing from subspace compartments in his forearm armor.

Jolt screamed like a little femme and dropped to the ground, curling up tightly in fetal position, his hands clasped firmly over his neck for protection.

Praxus froze with horror. He'd reacted to the 'threat' without even thinking. Push-button machine. Just like Ultra Magnus had said, he hadn't thought. He started trembling, quaking. He lowered his arms and snapped the talon blades back into subspace. His back was to Ratchet, Prowl, and Auri, but he knew they were all staring at him, the little monster.

"Nobody saw that, right…?" he asked, forcing a sheepish tone. Then he swallowed. He felt like he was going to be sick. Very, very sick.

* * *

Aw, Praxus! This is the second chapter in a row he's cause trouble for one of Ratchet's junior medics!

And yes, I ripped off "Hilter's Youth" for "Megatron's Youth." -.-

I've got a picture of Praxus without his visor now. :)

cairistona. deviantart art/ Praxus- Unvisored- 387338176


	17. Chapter 17, Pasts

Man… I feel like this is a really sad chapter. And I have to warn you guys that something really horrible happened in one of the bot's pasts and he thinks about it in this chapter. Poor Ultra Magnus…

* * *

Chapter 17

**Pasts**

Hostile vocal patterns detected.

Boot up.

Assess vocal patterns.

Assessing…

Assessing…

Partial match located.

Searching for better results…

Complete match located.

Error. Party of complete match is offline.

Probability of misreported or wrongly assumed death… 94.8 %

No error.

Complete match successful.

Problem: how to deal with young hostile previously thought offline.

Possibility: young hostile has noted my presence and made plans to for action. (97.96 %)

Calculating young hostile's most probable course of action…

Multiple variables create conflicting results. However, **avoidance** would seem to be the most likely course of action for young hostile to take. Probability… 85.3 %.

Good.

Feelings… regret. Source of regret…? Many sources of regret.

Own course of action regarding young hostile…? Calculate later. Recharge is necessary.

OoOoOoOoO

No one said anything, and Praxus swallowed hard. He felt like he was going to collapse, or start crying, or vomit, or all three. He kept his back to the bots, dreading to see the looks on their faces.

"I didn't mean to, Ratchet." He said, barely holding back a whimper, "Honest. H-he surprised me, coming at me from behind with my wing sensors down. I didn't mean to turn on him. I never would have if he hadn't startled me. Please don't be mad at me, Ratchet." He pleaded.

"It's- alright." Ratchet said, repressing something from his tone. Praxus sank a fang into his lower lip as he heard Ratchet holding back from him; he'd lost the medic's trust, and that devastated him. A little life-Energon trickled from his lip.

Praxus hated the thought of seeing the look on Ratchet's face, but he turned anyway.

He found Ratchet pressing a fist to his smirking mouth, shoulders shaking with repressed laughter, and Auri trembling with suppressed giggles. First Aid had stuck his head in the room, and he was looking amused. Prowl alone didn't seem entertained.

"Why are you laughing?" Praxus cried in confusion, tears filling his optics. He bit back a sob.

"Praxus, Praxus," Ratchet chided gently, sobering and going over to him. He put a reassuring hand on Praxus's shoulder. "Mech. It _is_ alright. We're laughing at Jolt. It's-" He broke off, his expression becoming one of concern. "Oh, Praxus." He took a cloth from subspace and put it against the young mech's lip. "We were laughing at Jolt for screaming and dropping on the floor like that." he explained. "Hold that there." He directed gently.

Praxus moved his hand to do so, and life-Energon came trickling from his palm and finger where he'd bitten himself earlier.

"Praxus!" Ratchet had his hand in a second. Praxus caught the cloth with his other hand and pressed it to his lip as Ratchet examined his bitten hand. "What did you _do_?"

Praxus didn't say anything and looked away.

"Hey." Ratchet caught Praxus's chin and made the young mech face him again. "What did you do?"

"I nearly cussed in front of Auri, so I covered my mouth with my hand quickly, and my fangs caught it, okay?" he said roughly. It wasn't the exact truth, but it fit closely enough.

"Not okay!" Ratchet objected, seeing through the fib, "Praxus, you _don't_ hurt yourself. Don't do that again, you hear me?"

Praxus nodded, but Ratchet was still upset.

"I'll take a wrench to your aft you bite yourself again."

"I hear you, Ratchet. Calm down, and bind up my hand. -Please."

"Door-wingers." Ratchet huffed. But, he took out a bit of bandaging for Praxus's hand.

Praxus glanced over at Prowl and Auri. Auri was looking up at Prowl, talking to him.

A bolt of horror shocked Praxus as he realized something. _Prowl_ was the one who was teaching Auri Praxian dialect. That meant that Prowl was the one who had synced with him. And that meant that he had tried to fragment Prowl's processor. That explained Prowl's headache, _AND Prowl's borderline hostile reserve towards him_.

"What's wrong?" Ratchet asked, and Praxus realized that he'd gasped.

"I just realized that Prowl… was the one I tried to fragment." He said softly.

Ratchet gave him a sympathetic look.

"He's not going to forgive that, is he." Praxus mumbled.

"Not soon anyway." Ratchet said.

Praxus sighed heavily.

"There." Ratchet said, tapping Praxus's wrist. "Hand's all bandaged. Now, get Jolt up."

"Wha- what?" Praxus looked horrified, "I- I… I can't do that!"

"Sure you can."

"No, I can't!" he protested, wings starting to tremble a little. "He's curled up on the floor because of _meeeeee!_"

"And that's just why _you_ are the one to get him up." Ratchet said firmly.

A little whine escaped Praxus's throat. Auri left Prowl and came over to encourage Praxus.

"Listen." Ratchet put a gentle hand on Praxus's shoulder. "This is just like yesterday. I'm not punishing you for terrorizing one of my junior medics. I'm just having you repair what you damaged. He startled you, so you scared him. I'm just having you calm him down and help him get up."

Praxus looked unconfident in himself.

"You're going to be living on this Autobot base, Prax." Ratchet said gently, "You're going to have to figure out how to calm and sooth the bots when you scare them."

Praxus lowered his head. "You're right." He said quietly.

"You can do it." Ratchet encouraged.

"Just talk nicely to him like you talk to me." Auri coached gently. Praxus summoned up a half-smile for her then knelt by Jolt

The blue junior medic hadn't moved at all. "Hey…" Praxus said uncertainly, "I… uh…" he grimaced up at Ratchet, but Ratchet only nodded at him. Praxus sighed and looked back down at Jolt. "Hi… Jolt. I'm… I'm Praxus, and… you really freaked me out by coming up behind me the way you did. I… I've got door-wings, so I should have known you were coming, but, see, they were damaged… so I've not been getting readings. You spooked me. And… so I acted instinctively, like… it was a reflex. I didn't _mean_ to terrorize you. Why, I wouldn't hurt you unless you… well, you _wouldn't_ because you're a medic. I…" he trailed off and looked for words. "I'm sorry." He said, "I'll try to not let it happen again. I wouldn't intentionally hurt you for no reason."

Praxus paused and wondered what else he could say. "Um… You're okay. Could you calm down and get up now? Please?"

No response.

"Ratchet, I don't know what else to say."

"You spoke very well, Praxus." Ratchet told him, "Jolt," he nudged his pede against his junior medic's backside. "Quit being a glitching ninny and get up before I make you."

"Dang-"

"Praxus!" Auri's fists planted on her hips, "I told you not to say that!"

Praxus felt his face get rather hot quite quickly. He didn't dare look at Ratchet.

"Bad mech." Auri told him, "You have to wash your mouth with soap."

Ratchet coughed in an odd manner, and Prowl actually had to repress a smirk. First Aid, who was still peeking out from Soundwave's room, grinned. Jolt opened one optic.

"Uh…" Praxus wasn't sure what to do.

"Come on, Praxus." Auri said firmly. If the grown-ups weren't going to make him behave, she would have to.

Praxus hesitated then got up slowly. He darted a quick look at Ratchet, but the medic just wore a bland expectant look on his face. Praxus shifted a wing then followed Auri over to the hand-washing sink.

"Hold out your hand." Auri said firmly, picking up the soap dispenser.

Praxus glanced back at Ratchet. Ratchet still hadn't moved. Jolt was sitting up now, though. Praxus raised an optic-ridge behind his visor then followed Auri's orders, giving her his un-bandaged hand. She pumped a good bit of soap into the cup of his hand, and he just stood there without a clue.

"Now," she said, "You put that in your mouth, hold it there, and swish 't swallow it."

Praxus looked uncertain, but it didn't seem like Ratchet was going to put a stop to this, so he lifted his hand to his mouth.

The second the soap hit the taste-receptors in his mouth, he gagged and doubled over the sink, clamping his hands over his mouth to keep from spitting out the horrible liquid. He coughed, and a little of the soap trickled through his fingers, dripping into the sink. He fought to keep his breakfast down as regurgitative spasms convulsed his body. He choked and coughed some more as he kept gagging.

It was awful, horrible. He'd been confused at first when Auri had told him he'd have to wash his mouth with soap for his dirty word. A dirty word wasn't tangible. One couldn't wash intangible things. He got it now, though. Did he ever get it now! The soap was punishment. And it was ever so much worse than Ratchet's wrench.

He groaned between choking coughs. This was decidedly awful.

Auri looked concerned. "You can spit it out now."

Praxus lost no time in doing that. He was already doubled over the sink, so he just took his hands away and spat the soap out, coughing and gagging as his fingers curled around the rim of the sink. Then he choked and lost his breakfast.

Then he felt completely drained. He let his torso lower to the counter and lay bent over the counter, his head resting by the sink. His weakened system was panting from the effort it had exerted. He felt too warm. He'd cool soon, though.

Auri rubbed his back gently. He felt almost dizzy then, overwhelmed at how good it felt to have another Praxian touching him. It didn't matter that she was a femme; just that she was a Praxian made it feel so good. The energy signature… it was healing.

"Are you alright?" Auri asked softly, "I didn't know it would make you vomit."

"'M okay." He murmured. He didn't want her to stop rubbing his back, but she did and touched his arm instead.

"I'll get you an Energon."

"'Kay…"

She left and was back in a few seconds. "Here you go." She said kindly.

He didn't feel like getting up.

"Praxus?" her hand was on his back again. _Stay there, little hand… I love –need- your touch…_

Then Ratchet was there, running a handheld scanner over him. "He's all worn out." Ratchet said. He got Praxus up off the counter and helped him slowly over to a berth and lie down.

Auri climbed up on the berth, sitting beside him. "I'm sorry, Praxus." She said earnestly, "I didn't know it would wear you out."

"It was the whole morning." Ratchet reassured her, "Not just the soap." He tilted the back of the berth up a little and then sat by Praxus and helped him sit up. He took the cube from Auri and put it to Praxus's lips. "Drink up." He directed.

"'Umiliating…" Praxus grumbled, but he drank the Energon obediently.

Prowl hesitated then left Jolt and approached the small group. "Ratchet,"

Ratchet and Auri and Praxus looked at him.

"I must be heading to work now. Thank-you for the pain-relief."

"Alright." Ratchet said, "Thank-_you_ for coming for it."

Prowl shifted a wing then turned his attention to Auri, his optics softening. "Thank-you for your help this morning. I will see you later."

"You're welcome, Prowl." Auri said, getting off the berth to go over and give him a hug. "I'll come lunch-hour." She promised. "I forgot yesterday, didn't I?"

Prowl nodded a little. She had forgotten, and he'd missed her dearly, but he'd not begrudged her the time with her guardian. He wasn't selfish.

"I won't forget today." She promised. "But intercom me if I do."

A confused half-smile hit his lips before he smoothed it away. "Very well." He said. Then he was turning away.

"Prowl!" Auri stopped him with rebuking reproach.

He halted and turned back. "Yes?"

"You say bye to Praxus, too." she ordered, pointing at Praxus.

Prowl paused then went over to her, taking her hand and gently folding her pointer finger down. "One," he said gently yet firmly, "You may make suggestions, but you may not order me around. Two, pointing at others it considered rude in many cultures, ours included."

"I kn… yes, sir."

He paused and pushed away the little impulse to caress her chin. He caressed her hand with his thumb instead, and then he made himself step away.

"Good day, Praxus." He said formally.

"Good day, Commander." Praxus replied, lowering his helm and wings.

Then Prowl left.

And, he made a beeline for Ultra Magnus's office.

OoOoOoOoO

Magnus gazed dully at the accumulated data-pads on his desk. They hadn't been there last night, so someone had to have dropped them off for him. He appreciated it that the war was cool enough at present that they weren't constantly on the battlefield getting shot at, but sometimes he really hated having to deal with all the paperwork and whatnot the humans and Prowl pushed at him and his fellow Cybertronians.

He sighed. He would like a diversion. Maybe Ironhide would intercom and invite him to battle-practice. Ironhide did that from time to time and seemed to enjoy pitting his firepower against Magnus's tactical mind and beating him. Or maybe Elita would want his help in the communications center. Sometimes she did.

Or maybe "Praxus" would make a false move, and they would have an execution. It didn't make sense to Magnus, keeping that thing alive. Every M-Y in the galaxy should be exterminated.

His sister-

He remembered the peaceful town, the pleasant morning. He'd been away for so long, and it had been so good to get to see his sister and her sparklings again. His two little nephews shouted joyfully at his towering presence, charging up to meet him, and his niece came running after them. "Uncle Magnus! See how we upgraded?" she called eagerly. Her name was Light-Breeze.

"You've all upgraded nicely!" he said warmly, kneeling to hug them. They were still all so little, but they were bigger than they'd been before. "You're getting so big! Why, soon you'll all be my size and I won't be able to take you all on in a fair wrestling match."

"Yeah!" Kite, the littler nephew, cheered triumphantly.

"Match! Match! Match!" Tag, the other nephew, chanted, dancing in eagerness. He loved it when they wrestled with Uncle Magnus.

"Mechlings, my treasures," said Windsong, their femme-creator, rebuking them lovingly as she approached, "Let your uncle rest a few moments." Magnus leaned over and kissed his sister's cheek as he hugged her warmly. "He's had a long trip and many adventures."

"Adventures!"

"Uncle Magnus, tell us about your adventures!"

"Is that how you ask?"

"Please!" "Yes, please tell!" "Please! Please! Please!" all three clamored eagerly.

"Alright, alright." Magnus said, "But you must tell me your adventures in return."

"It is a deal, Uncle Magnus. And we've had such wonderful adventures, too! You will love to hear them all!" Tag bounced joyfully.

Magnus scooped up little Kite and put him on his left shoulder. He picked up Tag as well and held with his left arm. "Hang onto your brother."

"Yes, sir!"

Then Magnus crouched and picked up Light-Breeze with his right arm, and he carried all three happily into the house, following his sister.

Once he was settled in with a cube of sparkly Energon and crowded by his adoring niece and nephews, he told them stories based on his mission. Never would he tell them the horrors that went on, but they loved the adventures. Once he'd told a few stories, they told him some of theirs, and then they scampered outside to play at their femme-creator's direction so "the grown-ups could talk."

The grown-ups did talk, and they enjoyed each other's company for a little while. Then, though, a piercing scream of terror came from outside. Windsong, with a femme-creator's swift reflexes and instincts, jumped up and was out the door in a moment.

Magnus hurried after her. For a moment, she was hidden by something dark, and then it sprang away and she fell.

"Windy!" He stopped when he reached her. She was dead, her neck mangled by multiple blades. "LIGHT! TAG! KITE!" he shouted, stepping over his sister's body.

"Uncle Magnus-!" Tag screamed.

Then he was dead. Just like his little brother and elder sister who lay in pieces on the ground.

Magnus stood in shocked horror and fury at the grinning fiend that held the two pieces of his nephew's body. Its insignia burned itself into his memory, and the fangs gleamed in the sunlight.

Magnus roared and charged at the creature that had torn his nephew in two, unsheathing his Energon blades from subspace.

It laughed, tossing the poor sparkling's body away, and jumped lightly, dodging Magnus's would-be death-blow.

"I found a mad-mech!" It sang out, whistling afterwards, evil glee in its scarlet optics.

"What-ho!" There was another one, a taller one.

"With weapons! Haha!" a third one.

"That's just humorously pathetic." Said a fourth.

"Yes." Said a fifth. "Quite a good laugh we shall have. Tear him apart!"

He fought the five. All of them were painted black, but they each had different markings on them, some colored. Fresh life-Energon dripped from the talons that adorned their forearms, and at least two of the mechs had life-Energon smeared on their mouths and chins.

They tore him up badly and kicked him happily, and one sat on him once he fell. "Congratulations, you get to live… You get to remember." it taunted, lips close to his audio processor. They dragged him to the center of the town, and he heard the screams and cries… the utterly devastating panic the monsters wrought on the towns-bots. He finally blacked out after a time. When he awoke, there was a medical bot kneeling beside him, the monsters were gone, and Autobot military were roaming around. Not one civilian was found alive.

OoOoOoO

Prowl swung the door open and walked in. Magnus jumped and shouted in alarm. Then he stilled himself. The memories had been so vivid that he'd forgotten where he was.

He was in his office, on earth. Prowl was there, eyeing him with slight unease.

"You startled me." Magnus said.

"My apologies." Prowl said, lowering his helm slightly. He paused. "I would have a word with you." He said firmly.

'_No, it's too early in the morning!_' Magnus thought in dismay. "By all means." He said, "Would you like a seat?"

"No, thank-you."

Magnus cleared his vocal processor and remained standing. "What is on your processor that you wish to share with me?"

"Your verbal treatment of one Praxian called Praxus." Prowl said.

Magnus swallowed, tensing bitterly as his fingers gripped the edge of his desk. He'd thought Prowl would be against an M-Y that had tried to fragment him, but evidently, Praxians of a wing stood together. It didn't make sense; "Praxus" wasn't a Praxian. He was a-

"I understand from Auri that you called him a monster, a creature, soulless, and spark-less. Can you deny that you said these things?"

"I cannot." Magnus said, repressing a sob a bitter rage, "And I would not deny them, either. They are true. _You_ know about the M-Y's, what monsters and beasts they are. You've seen footage of them, and the few of their victims that actually survive to Med-Bay."

Prowl looked mildly irritated. "That is beside the point." He bit out.

Magnus shook with repressed rage. "How so?! What _is_ the point, I should ask?!"

"Your verbal treatment of him has upset Auri greatly. _That_ is my point, and _that_ is not to be tolerated. She is under a great deal of stress, Magnus, and you added to it. Look at things from her perspective. Praxus is a fellow young Praxian, and she naturally wants to be friends with him. You go tearing through lambasting him, and she fears that you're going to hurt him. She doesn't need that extra stress of worrying about protecting him."

Magnus found himself at a complete loss for words. Where on earth did Prowl stand in regards to "Praxus"? How on earth could he-

"You're not saying-" Magnus choked out, "That you-"

"I do not condone friendship between Auri and Praxus in any way _whatsoever_." Prowl said firmly. "And I would gladly do without Praxus. However, because Auri cares about his well-being, he must not be abused in her presence."

"I see your point." Magnus said, nearly choking on the words.

"I thought you would." Prowl said, "Also, she said you forbade her from being around him."

"I did. You know what M-Y's do to femmes and sparklings! Wouldn't you forbid her?!"

Prowl shook his head. "She was sitting beside him sharing candy with him when I walked in. Clearly, forbidding her from associating with him was too harsh an action and she ruled against obeying. I told her that she if she chose to associate with him, she had to have supervision. She agreed to this without hesitation."

Magnus looked down, bitterly grieved. "She doesn't know what M-Y do, what _that_ one has no doubt done."

"And I would not have her know." Prowl said, "Nor would Ironhide."

"But, her safety…" he saw the life-Energon oozing from his sister's torn neck again. His sister… little Light… Tag… Kite…

"That is why I had her agree to have supervision, Magnus." Prowl said gently, his tone softening. "Besides, as I told her, deserting from the Cons is highly difficult, and those with the commitment and courage do to it are few. Since he has gotten away from the Cons, it is logical to believe that he has abandoned their worst practices."

Magnus considered this unwillingly, his spark sick with grief.

Prowl thought about some other things. "Magnus," he said after a moment. "I said that Praxus must not be abused in Auri's presence. I need to clarify and say that he must not be abused at all. We would be no better than the Decepticons if we treated him harshly when he has sought refuge with us."

"He's a _criminal_, Prowl."

"He is a criminal with a second chance, whether you like it or not. I will not deal leniently with him, but I will not deny him his second chance. It would be selfish, wrong, and hypocritical of me. –Particularly since I had a second chance."

Magnus gazed dully at Prowl. "Alright…" He said. "But if he makes one false move on Auri,"

"Ironhide will track him down and make sure he can't make _any_ moves." Prowl supplied.

Magnus snorted bitterly then. "Oh, you think Ironhide would get to him before Chromia would?"

Prowl paused. "It would depend on if he was in Med-Bay or not."

Few minutes later, Prowl had bidden Magnus good day and was heading towards his own office. As he walked, he wondered at Magnus's manner. The generally calm commander had seemed downright shaken if not agitated. Clearly, he'd been on edge before Prowl had walked in the door, but once the topic of Praxus had been brought up, he'd been increasingly upset.

When Auri had first told Prowl about how Magnus had treated Praxus, Prowl had been a little shocked if not dubious. Magnus was by no means outgoing when it came to Cons, but "monster," "beast," and "creature" had seemed more extreme than Magnus's usual descriptors of the accursed members of the faction. Prowl had found it hard to picture Magnus saying such things –with Praxus in the room, even- but, now that he'd seen Magnus this morning, he could. He'd never seen Magnus so upset.

It, Prowl calculated logically, had to be that the M-Y had hurt Magnus personally in the past. Nothing else would have upset Magnus more than a personal hurt. He felt bad for Magnus. He _almost_ felt bad for Praxus, too, but not quite. Praxus still had to redeem himself. That, though, Prowl felt, was _probably_ going to happen.

Prowl did not care for Praxus, but he was logical; he could see that Praxus had potential for goodness. He replayed his brief conversation with Praxus from earlier…

_"Mark my words. I spoke with logical generosity to Auri concerning you, but if you wrong her in way whatsoever, you will find me neither logical nor generous. Do you understand?" _

_"Yes, sir." _

_"What do you understand?"_

_"I understand, sir, that if I were to wrong Auri, I would face severe and extensive punishment." Praxus answered, "I would never wittingly incur that punishment, though, sir."_

_"Explain." _

_Praxus paused. Then, "I… I would never incur that punishment because I would never wrong Auri. Or any other femme. Or any Autobot. The day I saw a femme turn a weapon on her sparkling and herself to escape us, the M.Y., was the day I resolved to leave the Decepticons and never harm another femme or sparkling again."_

Praxus's answers had been flawless. More than that, though, they had seemed sincere.

"_The day I saw a femme turn a weapon on her sparkling and herself to escape us, the M.Y., was the day I resolved to leave the Decepticons and never harm another femme or sparkling again._" Praxus's voice when he'd said that… had had almost a fierce undertone, an anguished fervency. What he'd witnessed had affected him deeply, even to his spark –if he had one. And he did. Few M-Y did, though. All M-Y had physical sparks, of course, but their souls didn't have sparks; that was taken from them during training. They were turned into animalistic beings without consciences. Somewhere, though, Praxus must have developed a conscience. That was what had caused him to leave the M-Y.

There was hope for Praxus.

Prowl wouldn't trust him for the world, but he did know that there was hope for him.

OoOoOoOoO

Praxus woke up to cheerful laughter, and the merry sound was completely disorienting. He rolled over groggily to figure out just where he was, and he found the edge of his berth – a little too quickly.

"Aigh!" he was falling. Then he found the floor quite soundly. "D-" he bit off the swear word quickly.

There was the patter of little feet, and they stopped by his head. "Praxus?" Auri asked.

"I'm okay…" he groaned.

"Are you sure?"

He opened his optics and found that he was in the main room of Med-Bay. He picked himself up gingerly. "Sure I'm sure." Then he grinned cheerfully to keep from grimacing. "Is it lunch time?"

"It's quite past lunch time." Auri said.

"Oh."

"I'll get a cube for you." She said, heading over to the cabinet.

"You don't have to do that. I can get it." He said.

"It's no problem." Auri said, "I like helping others."

Praxus shrugged uncertainly. Nobody ever did anything for him without wanting something in return. Auri seemed guileless, though.

He looked around Med-Bay to see if anyone else was around, not forgetting Prowl's words, and he found another door-winger. A yellow one with black accent-markings. Then he jerked back as he recognized the Autobot's face, taking a deep intake of air to cycle to his cooling system. No, no, no… He was going to panic and… and… and…

"Here's your Energon." Auri said happily, holding up a cube.

Praxus pulled a smile and took the cube, but he thought he was going to lose his breakfast. Again. That yellow Praxian…

"Come sit with us." Auri said, taking his hand, "Come meet Bumblebee. He's one of my best friends."

Praxus thought he was going to glitch out and crash on the floor. It couldn't be… just… no…

Auri tugged gently. "Don't be shy. Bee's the nicest Praxian on base, I think. He won't say anything mean to you."

Praxus felt the room spinning around him wickedly, scattered with gory flashbacks of an interrogation room. Life-Energon… everywhere… screams…

"No-" Praxus gasped.

"What?" Auri looked up at him in confusion.

"I… I…" the room swayed a little.

"Come on, Praxus." Orders were orders. He went with the femme-ling helplessly. Bumblebee got up and stood, waiting for them.

Praxus was shaking by the time they reached Bee, but Auri kept her hand tucked in his comfortingly.

"Praxus, this is Bumblebee. Bee, this is Praxus."

"Ngh…" Praxus started to fall.

"Oh!"

Bee darted forward and caught the larger Praxian, and Auri helped him put the ex-Con onto the couch they'd been sitting on.

"I'll get Ratchet." Auri said then hurried off to get the trusted medic.

Bee stood, looking at Praxus. He rarely forgot a face, and he'd recognized Praxus's the second he'd walked into Med-Bay and seen him in recharge. From Praxus's reaction just now, it was clear that Praxus hadn't forgotten his face either. And Praxus had panicked.

Bee sat down on the armrest, watching Praxus. Many times he'd wondered how he would feel if he ever came face to face with one of the M-Y that had tortured him, and now he knew. He felt pity. He felt sorry for any mech who had been driven out of his processor to the extent that he no longer treated others with a byte of decency or compassion. Praxus was back in his processor now and clearly had horrible memories to live with; he would never forget the horrors he seen. He'd be haunted forever. It saddened Bee.

"Oh…" Praxus murmured, "Fragging hell damnation…" he shifted and sat up, seeming unfocused. Then he saw Bee. His mouth moved a little, but no words came out. He twitched his arm then froze.

Bee looked down for a moment then met the optic visor with his optics. "It's alright." He whispered.

Praxus shook his head. "Huh-uh…" he scooted away a little in terror.

"Listen," Bee whispered, "Things happens. It's life. We get orders; we have to follow them. Our positions could have easily been reversed. I don't begrudge you or blame you or hold against you anything that happened those weeks."

Praxus started panting as sheer terror threatened to take over.

Bee put his fingers to the scars on his throat. "You M-Y's wrecked my vocal processor." He said softly, "And traumatized me extensively. I suffered nightmares for _years_, and I can still barely speak. But. If all that hadn't happened, I would be a very different mech from the one I am today, and I don't think that mech would be someone I'd want to be. He'd be more selfish and less compassionate. I don't think I'm great, but I think I'm better than I would have been without that suffering."

"What the xxxxxing h-l?!" Praxus cried. This made no sense at all.

"Acceptance." Bee said. "Finding peace with my past and my circumstances."

Auri came into the room, "Bad words, Praxus! I heard them echo in the hall."

Praxus turned to Auri, optics wide behind his visor. "Oh, Auri, for mercy's sake don't make me taste that soap again. Let Ratchet whop me with his wrench like he did yesterday, but _please_ don't make me taste soap."

Auri paused with amazement. This young mech, bigger, stronger, and older than her, was pleading for her mercy, cowering against the corner of the couch. It was a most unusual thing. –and it was troubling. She didn't like it.

And she didn't like the power. She paused. "We'll let Ratchet decide when he comes." She said. "He'll be here in a little while. Bee intercommed that you woke up, so Ratch said it couldn't be too serious." She sat down beside him on the couch.

He craned his head back in shock as he stared at the femme-ling beside. WHY WAS SHE SITTING SO CLOSE BY HIM? It was unnerving. Scary. He didn't know what to do.

Then Bumblebee was sitting on the other side of Auri. Praxus worked to keep from panicking. Why were these Autobots sitting on this couch that they'd put him on? What were they going to do to him?

Auri scooted a little closer to Praxus to make room for Bee. Her wing brushed Praxus's wing. He froze. He was going to die. Then her wing brushed his a little more, and her elbow brushed his.

"We were looking at some archives of Praxian artwork." Auri said, and Praxus realized that she was addressing him. She had a data-pad in her hands. "Would you like to see, too?"

"A-archives of Praxian artwork?" he asked, trying to get things straight in his processor. Bumblebee didn't hate him? Auri wanted to look at pictures with him?

"Uh-huh." Auri said with a nod. "Unless there's something else you'd rather look at."

"Uh… th- that's fine."

"Okay." Auri settled in with the data-pad, her right wing resting against one of Praxus's wings and her left wing against one of Bumblebee's.

They looked at a picture of a piece Praxian artwork on the data-pad. Auri commented on things that she liked or noticed, and then Bee pointed a few things out to her, adding bits of information that he knew.

"What do you like about this piece, Praxus?" Auri asked, tilting the data-pad more towards him.

"Wh- what?" His optics had been on the data-pad, but they'd not been focused. He'd been focused on the feeling in his wing that Auri's wing was touching… the transfer of life-energy flowing into it and from it, to and from Auri's wing.

"What do you like about this piece?"

"I…" Praxus hesitated. "Uh…" he realized with horror that he had no appreciation for art. "Um…"

Auri giggled. "It's not a trick question, silly."

He drew a sharp vent of air. It hurt, getting called 'silly.' He'd been called countless worse things, but it still hurt.

"Praxus?" she sounded concerned.

"I… w-wish you wouldn't call me 'silly.'" He said unsteadily, fearful that such a request would open him up to further ridicule.

"Oh…! Oh, Praxus, I'm sorry… I didn't mean it…!" She put a hand on his forearm, "I call my twins 'silly' all the time and they like it. I didn't stop to think that you wouldn't. I promise I'll try not to do that again. Okay?"

Praxus stared at her, his mouth open just a little in awe. Nobody… nobody had ever, _ever_ apologized for calling him something, and certainly nobody have ever promised to try not to do so again. He was afraid that it was some sort of trick or prank, but then he decided that he would try trusting Auri. After all, she trusted him and hadn't hurt him yet.

"O-okay." He said. "Thank-you." He added softly.

She looked up at him with kind optics then slipped her attention back to the data-pad.

"I… I think I like the way the light and dark colors look together there." Praxus said shyly, reaching a little to point.

"Ooooh…! Yes! They do look very cool. I like that observation, Praxus, thank-you for adding it." She smiled up at him before eagerly going on to the next picture.

Praxus found himself feeling a little dizzy. Bee and Auri were way too nice to him. Way, way, way too nice to him. It was disconcerting to his logic core as well as to his emote-core.

"And what do you like in this one, Prax?" Auri asked. He nearly glitched out when she called him by a shortened version of his new name.

"Chk…" he choked, "Um… I, uh… the silhouette on the right."

They went through several more works, and Praxus got a little better at picking something out that he liked. Then Ratchet came back.

"So, you glitched out?" he asked. Auri put the data-pad away.

"Um, briefly." Praxus answered, rising as Ratchet motioned for him to get up. He grimaced comically at Auri as Ratchet ran a handheld scanner over him. Auri giggled, and Praxus straightened his face when Ratchet looked up from his scanner. Ratchet turned his attention back to the scanner, and Praxus grinned at Auri.

"Well." Ratchet said. Praxus sobered. "It was a combo of stress and more stress on top of a weakened system. But you'll be fine."

"That's nice to know." Praxus said offhandedly.

Ratchet tweaked his wing lightly. "Still no readouts?"

"A little feeling when touched, but other than that, none, sir." Praxus shook his head.

Ratchet pursed his lips. "I did the repair work last night, so maybe it's just being slow to heal and reboot. Let me know if anything changes, okay?"

"Okay. Yes, sir."

Ratchet patted his shoulder and started to move on.

Praxus darted a questioning look at Auri. Her wings flicked up a little. "I'm no tattletale." She said. Ratchet halted immediately and looked over.

Praxus felt his face warm. "Ratchet…" he said. "I'm in for five licks for bad words."

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge. "I was thinking we might try Auri's soap method."

"NO-!" Praxus cried out in dread, shrinking back.

"Ratchet!" Auri looked upset, almost in tears. "No! It was too hard on him! 'Specially since he nearly starved! Don't!" she pleaded.

Bee looked a little upset at Ratchet as well.

"Oh, dear." Ratchet said, feeling quite bad now for having brought the soap up. "Calm down, little wingers. I won't subject Praxus to soap. –at least not today."

Auri sniffled then looked relieved, and Bee looked reassured.

Praxus sighed, contented now that he wouldn't have to suffer unduly through more soap. Then Ratchet led him a little ways away and took out his wrench.

Praxus glanced apprehensively towards Auri and Bee, but the two weren't watching. That was different. Generally, in the past, whenever he'd gotten punished in public-

He decided not to think about it.

"Do you want to go in a hallway or another room?" Ratchet asked, noting that he had sent a concerned look towards the other wingers. Nobody liked getting punished in front of his or her peers.

Praxus shook his head quickly; he might get abused in private. No! No, he would not. He knew Ratchet wouldn't abuse him. "It's fine." Praxus said. Then he positioned himself for the licks.

The first lick fell, and Praxus heard Auri whine in sympathy for him. The other four licks followed, and then Ratchet's wrench was done. Praxus straightened, meeting Ratchet's optics warily. The medic looked firm yet a little compassionate. It was reassuring in a way.

Praxus paused, wishing that he could be closer to Ratchet. He didn't know how to become closer, though. He'd liked it when Ratchet had sat with him during the scans and talked to him, resting his hand on him from time to time. That wasn't there today, though.

Ratchet gave him a questioning look, and he realized that he'd been studying the medic curiously. –Not that Ratchet could tell that the study was one of curiosity; the visor hid that.

Praxus half-smiled. "You're good, Ratchet." He said. Then he headed back towards where Auri and Bee were sitting on the couch with their optics kindly away from him.

He went and sat beside Auri, and then he nearly glitched out when she hugged him. She let go after a moment.

"Wh- was that for?" he asked uneasily.

"I felt bad for you, getting swatted with a wrench like that." she said, her optics reproachful.

He looked down. So… not only had she and Bee not watch him get punished, she felt _bad_ for him? This was _so_ different. He was so used to getting laughed at and teasing after getting punished. He didn't know what to say. Her face was cute, though.

He reached out and lightly touched the tip of her nose with a finger for a moment. "It's okay." He told her. Then he nudged her wing with his. "Let's forget this happened and go back to your picture archives, 'kay?"

"Okay." She said. She took out the data-pad, and a few minutes later, she was probably the coziest femme around at the moment. Bee was cuddling just a little on her left, and Praxus was snuggling a bit on her right. They were quite adorable.

OoOoOoOoO

That day passed, and another day came. It was now Soundwave's fifteenth day in Autobot Med-Bay. Just over two weeks had passed since he'd nearly gotten assassinated. Four days had passed since he'd first awoken.

He was much better than Auri thought or knew. He wasn't as tired or weak as he'd seemed to her. He'd been holding off on seeming better because he dearly wanted his empathy-drive back online before they talked about the past. The thing still needed extensive work, and the nanites were painfully slow at dealing with the damage. It would be a while yet before it would be functional again.

It was unfair, though, he knew, to make Auri think he was too weak to talk with her. The poor femlette wanted to talk with him so badly. She wanted to know about her past, their past, more than anything.

He was awake when she came skipping back from lunch with Prowl. Her steps were light and happy, a smile was on her face, and she was singing a Praxian song. (Praxus had taught her the song, but Soundwave didn't know that).

"Soundwave!" she greeted joyfully, running over to climb onto his berth and hug him. "You're awake again! Like for the third time today! Are you getting much better then?" she asked eagerly.

"Yes, my little Ari." He said softly, moving his hand to brush her cheek. "Much better."

"I'm so glad." She cuddled against him.

He touched her helm briefly. "I would sit up somewhat."

"Okay!" she bounced up. "Here's the control panel for shifting the berth," she said, putting her hand on the side of the berth. "Mm…" she found the button to press, and the upper half of the berth slowly began to tilt.

"Good." Soundwave said when he was partially upright. He wasn't ready or strong enough to sit all the way up.

Auri snuggled against him again for a moment, but then she was sitting up again. "Would you like some Energon to drink?" she asked.

"Later." He said. The IV supplied all his energy needs for now. "Talk now." He said.

"About when I was a sparkling?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded.

"Tell me, tell me!" she begged eagerly, holding his hand. "Tell me how you found me!"

"We had bombed and razed the city." He said, "We were looting then, taking things, killing any survivors. I picked up a spark signature under some rubble. I pushed away the rubble, and I found you, the tiniest sparkling I had ever seen." He cupped his hands. "You fit."

"I fit in your two hands?" Auri stared in awe.

He nodded. "You were scared of the bombs and the falling buildings, but you weren't scared of me. You chirped and reached up for me, hungry. I picked you up to offline you, but you began purring the second I touched you, and you rubbed your helm against my hand, tugging my spark with yours. I couldn't hurt you then. I hid you in my chest compartment, where I store my cassette-warriors, and I took you home when we were done with the city. I washed you and fed you with a bottle, and I painted over your scratches and put salve on your bruises. You slept in the crook of my arm while I wrote my reports."

"And you kept me and brought me toys." The femme-ling added softly.

"I kept you and brought you toys. You played on my desk while I worked. I kept you hidden away; no one ever knew I had you. You napped while I was away and woke whenever I would return. You upgraded and began storing memories, and I brought you things to learn."

Auri looked over at Ratchet for a moment then turned back to Soundwave. "Did you neglect me?" she asked wistfully.

The magenta optics lowered. "Mentally, no. Physically, yes. When you got a little older, I had more field work; I was away most of the time. You were alone, locked away in my private office with nobody to interact with for weeks on end. I knew you would suffer if you were alone that long, so I… I… you have false memories, my Ari. You never knew I was away for more than a day. Mentally, you were happy and satisfied, but your body knew it was not getting what it needed. That is why your medic finds neglect but you do not."

"You faked my memories?" Auri asked, devastated. "You weren't there?"

"I faked _some_ of your memories. Roughly one-eighth of your memories of me are real. The rest-" he broke off as Auri started crying.

"You weren't there…!" she sobbed.

"I _was_ there, Ari." Soundwave told her, "I was there in spark."

"You weren't there…." She grieved.

Soundwave cradled her to his chest. "I am sorry." He said softly.

"M-my first memory… is that fake?"

"What is it?"

"Well," Auri said softly, "I had just figured out how to stand up by pulling myself up on things. And that day I pulled myself up by the leg of the small table, and then I saw on top of the table, and there was the most delightful-looking package all wrapped up with pretty designs. And I _knew_ it was for me, but I couldn't reach it, so I had to wait. I plopped back down on my behind and waited and waited, and then I got up again and peeked at the package. And then I sat back down again and waited some more. And then you finally came in, and I got up and chirped at you and pointed to the package. You chuckled at me, and then you gave me the package for being such a clever sparkling. I don't remember what was inside it, but I remember playing with the wrapping for days." She looked anxiously at Soundwave. "That… was that real?"

Soundwave nodded. "That was real. That was before I had my long trips."

Auri looked comforted, but she also looked a little upset as well. "How can I know which of my memories are real, Soundwave?"

He paused, thinking about it. "When I am stronger, you can tell me each memory, and I will tell you which are real."

"You could?"

He nodded.

"Okay…!" That encouraged her. "We'll do that. Later. You look tired now."

He nodded reluctantly. The truth had been far more draining than he'd realized it would be.

Auri hugged him tenderly. "Thank-you for telling me." She said softly. "I'm glad that you rescued me and looked after me."

Soundwave sighed and caressed her helm for a moment then submitted himself to sleep.

Auri sniffled once he was in recharge. "Most of my memories of him were faked." She whimpered.

Ratchet approached and gathered her into his arms, cradling her to his chest and pressing his helm against hers. "I'm so sorry, Spark-lette." He said.

She swallowed and brushed a tear away. "I need a Prowl-hug."

"A… a Prowl-hug?"

She sniffled and nodded. "A hug from Prowl." She said, shifting.

Ratchet let her down then watched as she left. _A Prowl-hug?_

OoOoOoOoO

Prowl was typing busily in his office when Auri came in, a tear trickling down her cheek. The typing stopped instantly, and Prowl went to her quickly.

"What is wrong?" he asked, fears gathering in his spark.

"I need a hug." She whimpered.

Prowl slipped his arms around her and hugged her gently, cradling her as his spark threatened to break.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"Soundwave told me," Auri whispered back, "Most of my memories of him are faked… 'cause he had to abandon me for long times while he was at war. He faked my memories for me so I wouldn't be upset about being alone."

"Oh, Auri…" that had to be distressing for the young femme. Prowl personally found it devastating. He needed to find something good for her to focus on. "You have some real memories of him, though, don't you?"

She nodded. "He said roughly an eighth of my memories of him were real. My first memory is real."

"That is good." Prowl said. He cuddled her, supporting her with a rare unconditional love and the warmth of his being. _This_ was a Prowl-hug.

A few moments passed, and then Auri shifted.

"I'll be alright." She said softly. She sighed and stepped back from Prowl, her optics meeting his.

Prowl nodded. "You will." He said gently.

Then she hugged him again.

He let one of his hands caress her back. "Would you like to stay and work a little while?" he asked.

"I actually think I would." She said. "I've missed work."

"There is always plenty of it." Prowl said, and that made her smile. He found some light tasks to assign her, and then they settled at their workstations with contentment. Auri was happy to have something to do, and Prowl was happy to have his Auri back.

* * *

Okay. I guess it wasn't _that_ sad. I mean, it had Auri and Praxus fluff with Bumblebee on the side. And it ended with Prowl/Auri fluff. :)


	18. Chapter 18, Mirage and Praxians

I had to work ALL day Monday (11 hours)… so, Tuesday update.

*Praxian fluff warning* -To quote little Agnes from _Despicable Me_, "It's so fluffy I could die!"

* * *

Chapter 18

**Mirage... and Praxians**

That fifteenth day after Soundwave's arrival, Auri had dinner with Ironhide and Chromia in their quarters. She didn't tell them about Soundwave faking her memories, though. She wasn't ready to, yet. She would tell them a little later, once she had thought about it some more. She had so much to think about… Looking around, she realized that it had been a long time since she'd slept on her dear cozy couch. She decided that she would sleep on it tonight.

"I hear there is another Praxian among us." Ironhide said, drawing her from her thoughts. He'd heard about Praxus two days ago, actually, full details, but Auri hadn't mentioned the mech once, despite the fact that said mech was living in Med-Bay. Ironhide was curious about that. He spoke lightly, yet he saw a guarded look creep onto Auri's face. Chromia saw it, too.

"What gives, little one?" Chromia asked.

"I don't want you two to get mad." Auri said in a small voice. "He's been here a couple days, but I didn't say anything because… well…" she looked down.

Ironhide pulled Auri gently from her seat at the table and onto his lap. "Because why, My-Auri?" he asked, cradling her tenderly. He knew Ratchet was looking after her, but her hesitancy to speak brought fear and apprehension to his spark.

She sniffled. "He used to be a Megatron's Youth, and Magnus hates his spark to the pit. And Prowl barely tolerates him. Jolt's scared of him and doesn't like him. He isn't mean, though. He's scared himself, and he has nightmares every single night, crying and sometimes screaming."

"And you thought we'd be against him because he used to be an M-Y?" Chromia asked watchfully.

Auri nodded. "Magnus… Well, I'll start at the beginning and tell you everything." And she did, starting with when she first saw Praxus standing in the doorway, going through Ratchet's sync, Magnus's hateful words, and Prowl's orders, Jolt's scare, the soap, him glitching out when he met Bee… everything except for the fact that he snuggled against her while they looked at the artwork. She ended with that afternoon, when Praxus had taught her another Praxian song. –leaving out the snuggling while they talked about songs.

Ironhide listened thoughtfully, as did Chromia.

Auri finished and looked up at Ironhide, tilting her head back so she could see his expression. "I don't think he means or wants to be bad anymore." She said, "Please don't forbid me and make me stay away from him like Magnus did. He just needs a friend."

Ironhide kissed the top of her helm. "I won't forbid you." He said, "But, as Prowl ordered, you must never be around him without supervision."

"Yes, sir." Auri said, "Thank-you." She added lovingly, "I'm so glad that you aren't unreasonable."

"I have a few rules for you, though." Ironhide said, rubbing her arm gently as he snuggled her.

"Okay." She said. She knew Ironhide's rules would be fair, and she trusted him implicitly.

"You are not to let him flirt with you in anyway whatsoever. I don't like it much when our Autobot mechs flirt with you, but a Decepticon – even an ex-Decepticon- will not be allowed to at all."

Auri nodded. Then she took out her data-pad and wrote that down.

"Two." Ironhide said, "If he does try to flirt, you must tell him 'no' very firmly and tell him that that is unacceptable behavior. No exceptions."

Auri nodded again, writing that down as well.

"Three. Do not let him touch you in any way that you are not comfortable with. If he does, punch him, tell him no, and that that is unacceptable. Four. Do not hesitate to use your stun gun on him. That's it for now, but I may think of others later."

Auri nodded a third time. "Yes, sir." She said. She wrote down the final two rules, but doubted she would need any of them. Praxus was a good mech now even if he'd had to be evil in the past.

OoOoOoOoO

Auri was in recharge on her couch, snuggled against the back of it.

"It's good to have her back here." Chromia murmured quietly. Ironhide nodded. Then he followed his mate to their berth-room and closed the door once they were in.

"You pretty much didn't say a word about Praxus." He said meaningfully, standing with hesitation beside the berth.

"You said have supervision, allow no flirting, and allow no inappropriate touching. And stun-gun him if need be. That covers it. What else would I say?" Chromia asked. She stretched out on the berth.

"Something, at least." Ironhide said with a frown.

She sighed. "I have been judged, misjudged, and condemned many countless times." She said quietly, looking down. "All based on prejudices. It's not a nice thing."

Ironhide watched her as she sat up, curious to know what she would say next.

"I haven't met the mech-ling, Ironhide." she said, meeting his optics. "I've heard what Magnus thinks, what Prowl thinks, and what Ratchet, Jolt, Bee, First Aid, and Auri all think about him. And each one thinks something different. I'm not saying a word about him until I meet him myself. I hate being treated with prejudice, so I'm not going to treat him with it." She cocked her head at him, "Make sense?"

"Yes, it does." Ironhide said, getting on the berth, "Makes perfect sense."

Chromia raised a challenging optic-ridge. "If you add that I'm perfect, I'll bust you for lying to me."

Ironhide chuckled.

OoOoOoOoO

(Day sixteen after Soundwave's arrival)

Praxus woke up a third morning in Med-Bay. He slowly uncurled his body as he lay on his mat, stretching to his full length. He stretched his wings and got a faint flicker of data from them. His face brightened immediately; his wing sensors were coming back online! He would have to tell Ratchet… the medic would be pleased.

Praxus sat up then stared at his forearms. Someone had put sturdy cuffs on his wrists, and the cuffs ran half-way up his forearms, restricting his talons completely. He felt a little panicky then, but he was too hungry to panic well. He needed Energon.

Going out of his room and up the hall, he paused at the doorway and checked very carefully to make sure that no one was in the main room besides a medic or Auri or Bumblebee or Prowl. He didn't want to meet or see anybody else.

He'd been in Med-Bay for four days now, and he'd narrowly missed meeting Ironhide. He would always run off as soon as he heard the door, and then he'd peek from safety to see who it was. He'd seen Ironhide a couple times now, and the big black battle-mech looked immensely formidable. Needless to say, Praxus had never gone and introduced himself. He'd gone and hidden in his room.

Looking now, Praxus discovered Auri chatting with a blue and white mech, who Jolt was watching out of the corner of his optics as he typed a report.

"And what did this other winger say?" the blue and white mech asked her curiously.

"Well, that _someone_ should be court-marshaled."

"oh."

"And that was all. The subject of conversation changed then. I offered him some more later, but he said he'd rather have copper candy."

"I clearly have more work to do then."

Auri nodded. "At least you know what needs work now."

The mech chuckled ruefully. "All of it."

"Don't worry, Mirage. You're clever and smart; I'm sure you'll figure it out someday."

Mirage was clearly encouraged by these words, but he added, "As long as I have help with the taste-testing, that is."

"But, of course!" Auri said, "You know I love sweet stuff."

"There is nothing sweeter than you, though." Mirage said.

"Mirage," Jolt said, "Get out."

"What?"

"Ironhide gave me express orders to throw you out if you flirted with Auri. I'm telling you to go now."

Mirage grumbled, but he bade Auri farewell and left.

"Poor Mirage." Auri giggled once the door had closed behind the mech.

"Uh-huh…" Jolt didn't really agree. Mirage was a nice enough mech, but Jolt wasn't about to be lenient when it came to the disapproved business of flirtation with Ironhide's little Aurion-Blaze.

Praxus deemed it safe to enter then. "Hello, Auri." He greeted her, and the he added in Praxian, "_May the dawn always be pleasant to your optics._"

"What did he say?" Jolt asked suspiciously.

Auri grinned. "He said… 'May the morning always be nice in your optics'-sight.'" She said, hoping that she'd translated it correctly. She smiled at Praxus. She liked Praxian greetings.

"Oh." Jolt said. That was okay, he supposed. He went back to typing.

"Are you hungry?" Auri asked Praxus.

"Am I ever!" Praxus said then gave her wing a playful bite.

"No!" Auri reprimanded sharply as she turned and landed a little fist in his face.

Praxus stepped back, looking completely shocked, almost hurt. A sparkling wrongfully slapped couldn't have looked more betrayed than he did.

"That is unacceptable behavior." Auri said softly, wishing Ironhide hadn't told her to punch the poor mech.

Praxus looked uneasy and a little afraid. "'M sorry." He said, wings lowering as his bottom lip started to tremble. "I didn't know that it was."

Auri looked at him in wonder. He didn't know play-biting a femme was unacceptable? Didn't everybody know that?

"I promise I won't do it again." he said, lowering his helm as to a high-ranking commander.

"It's alright." Auri gently reached out and touched his arm to reassure him, "You're just learning. I'll get you an Energon now. Okay?"

"'Kay." He said softly. He went and sat down on the couch glumly. Each day that passed made it more and more clear that he didn't have to proper social skills for living among Autobots. First Aid had called him down a couple times yesterday for things he'd done wrong in innocence, Jolt's favorite thing to say to him was "no, you don't do that," and Ratchet had smacked him for wing-bumping him. What was wrong with wing-bumping?

"Here you go." Auri said, sitting down beside him and handing him the cube.

"Thank-you." Praxus murmured, holding the cube in his hands. He noted the cuffs again and wondered when they'd been engaged and who had engaged them. Then he dismissed them and turned his attention to his cube of Energon, drinking hungrily. "Have you had breakfast?" he asked Auri, a little Energon running down his chin.

She nodded. "Oh, yes. A bit ago. I slept in Ironhide and Chromia's quarters and had breakfast with them before coming here."

"Nkay." Praxus said in the cube.

"Your table manners." Auri said. She'd been watching for a couple days and had had enough.

Praxus's wings shifted as he lowered his cube of Energon. "What about?" he asked, swiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"They're virtually nonexistent, Praxus."

"Oh…" Praxus looked down. "I guess I'll have to get some then."

Auri nodded.

"Um… how might I procure some?"

"I'll help you." She offered a little shyly.

"Alright." That was highly agreeable. He knew Auri was a patient and kind little thing who wouldn't be mean if he made a mistake. She had half a dozen corrections to make. No talking while drinking, no drinking while talking, don't tilt the cube so much than it spills on your chin, use a cloth instead of your hand to wipe your mouth…

All the rules made sense, and Praxus felt rather ashamed. Why had nobody taught him these things? Well, he knew the answer to that one. They'd been too busy turning him into a machine of destruction to teach him good table manners. It probably made him look like even more of a little monster anyway when he ate with no manners. He sighed and submitted to Auri's instructions.

He finished breakfast with good manners, and then Auri gave him a data-pad. "This has all the rules and regulations for the base on it." She said. "Prowl sent it. You'll have to read it all."

Praxus snuggled against her then onlined the pad and stared at the table of contents. "Fr-" he broke off. "For real?" he asked, "There's like a million pages here."

"Everybody has to read them when they first come." Auri said, "I did."

Praxus couldn't think of any non-swear words at the moment, so he just groaned.

"Don't worry." Auri patted his arm, "It won't take forever."

Praxus sighed. She didn't know how slowly he read Cy-Standard. Con-Standard was what he read best, and then Praxian. Cy-Stan just made his optics feel like twitching.

"It will be fine." She told him, giving him a hug then getting up. "I've got a racing date with my twins in a few minutes, so I have to go, but I'll be back later."

Praxus pulled up a smile. "Have fun." He said, wishing she wouldn't go.

"I will!" she scampered off happily, calling a farewell to Jolt before bouncing out the door.

Praxus looked at the data-pad dismally. Page one. With a heavy sigh of resignation, he began the laborious task of reading in Cy-Stan. He painstakingly worked his way through four lines of the writing then checked the time. It had take three minutes. Counting the lines on the page quickly, he found that there were about forty-five lines to a page… Forty-five times three… 135… it would take 135 minutes to get through one page. That was more than two hours! –Two hours and fifteen minutes to be exact. And there were well over eight-hundred pages.

Praxus bit back a howl of dismay when he realized that 800 times two hours and fifteen minutes gave him a total of 1800 hours. If he read for six hours straight each day, it would take him 300 days to get it all read. Almost a whole earth year. And he would never understand or remember it all. He thought about curling up and crying for a little while in utter defeat, but Decepticons didn't cry.

He wasn't a Decepticon any more, though. He was a neutral, and he was going to never get the regulations and rules read because Cy-Stan was too hard to read, and then he was going to get into trouble for not reading it, and he would suffer either humiliation for being ignorant or pain for looking recalcitrant. His life was miserable.

He curled up. He intended to not cry, but somehow a few tears ended up spilling from his optics and trickling down his cheeks.

Then he heard Ratchet come in.

Ratchet paused. "What's wrong, Prax?" he asked gently.

Praxus sighed unhappily. "I'm…" he shifted to face Ratchet, "Ratchet!" he wailed, sitting up quickly as he saw the medic's face. Just below the right optic, narrowly missing it, were the marks of Praxus's forearm talons. "I hurt you?" he cried in dismay.

"Unintentionally." Ratchet said gently, coming over to Praxus, "You were having a nightmare, thrashing around a bit. I went to help you wake up or calm down, and you swung when my hand touched your shoulder. I jumped, or it would have been worse. We just put those guards on your wrists for safety, not for punishment."

Praxus looked down at the cuffs. Now he knew why they were there. Tears filled his optics anew. He'd hurt Ratchet… the nicest medic in the universe. First Aid had deserved to get bitten; he'd not been respectful. Jolt had deserved to get scared; it served him right for walking up behind a hurt door-winger. But Ratchet… Ratchet didn't deserve even the tiniest of scratches.

Praxus bit his lip. "I'm sorry, Ratchet."

Ratchet sat by him and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Praxus. I know you didn't mean to. I shoulda been more careful. Don't go tearing yourself up about it. That's an order."

Praxus sniffled. Then his face burned with shame as he realized that he was crying. "Yes, sir." He said.

Ratchet rubbed his shoulder kindly then handed him a clean cloth. "Now, dry those tears and tell me why you were curled up in a miserable heap on the couch."

Praxus halfway smiled as he accepted the cloth. "Yes, sir." He said, and he knew Ratchet would be kind to him about his illiteracy.

OoOoOoOoO

(Day seventeen after Soundwave's arrival; four after Praxus's)

Praxus jumped up and dropped neatly behind the couch before the visitor entered the room. Auri was left sitting alone on the couch.

"Hallo, Aurion." It was Mirage's voice.

'_Ugh!_' Praxus had decided that he did not like Mirage. Auri liked Mirage, though, and she would sit with them and they'd chat. She loved his stories about Cybertron's golden era and all the wonderful things that had taken place then, and she seemed to be quite _enamored_ with his _eloquent_ diction and _refined_ vocabulary.

Praxus made a face as Mirage told Auri that he'd brought her something.

"More fake Praxian candy?" she teased.

'_Good one, Auri!_' Praxus thought.

"No, not yet," Mirage said, "I'm still working on it. It's frightfully complicated, you know."

Praxus looked cross-eyed at a dust-bunny behind the couch. He hoped Mirage would hurry up and leave.

"Uh-huh." Auri said happily, "It was fun helping you with that batch, though."

Praxus made a series of rude faces as Mirage replied that he was glad that she'd enjoyed herself and that she was welcome to come back and help any time. '_You can come make canday with moi any time, mon petit._' Praxus mocked in his head.

"Well, I'm a bit busier since I'm working at the office again now, but maybe I'll come sometime."

'_You'd better not_.' Praxus thought.

"Just intercom or drop by."

'_Eeeww… she has his intercom line?_'

"Okay. Hey, what did you bring me?"

"Here, sit, I'll show you."

'_While I sit beside you and feel up your hips._' Praxus added with spite.

"Ooooh-! Different kind of candy!" Auri said happily. "What is it?"

Mirage rolled the name off his tongue glibly, and Praxus stuck his tongue out. High-class snob delicacy.

Auri was giggling now. "How am I ever supposed to learn that name?" she giggled.

"Oh, you're quick with words; I have no doubt that you'll learn it quickly."

Praxus puckered up his lips awfully. '_Suck-up, kiss-aft.'_ He sent a little gust of air at the dust-bunny and sent it fluffing away.

"Silly." Auri said. "Does is it taste good?"

"Would I bring you something yucky?"

Praxus gagged.

Auri giggled.

Praxus pretended to vomit.

"Mm…!" Apparently the candy was good. "Oh, Raj, this is amazingly delicious!"

Praxus was tired of lying behind the couch and making faces that nobody saw. And he wanted Mirage to go away. It was obvious that Mirage was working to win Auri's favor, and Praxus did not want that. Auri belonged with Bumblebee and nobody else in the universe. Bee was kind and gentle but playful as well, and he and Auri loved the same things. He always treated her lovingly without overdoing it, and it was clear that he respected and cherished her. Auri belonged with Bee. Not some uppity high-class non-Praxian with a fancy word-bank.

Very quietly, Praxian got up onto all fours and crawled to the corner of the couch nearest Mirage. He peeked and found Mirage entirely engaged in telling Auri about the sweet and how it was made. Good.

Praxus slowly rose and slipped his hands onto the couch armrest and back, and his knee on the armrest.

"Mmm!" He leaned close to Mirage with a fanged grin.

"AIGH!" Mirage grabbed Auri, wrapping his arms around her like she was his security blanket

"This looks like a juuuuuicy one." He purred, creeping onto the couch and closer to the terrified Mirage. He ran his tongue over and between his fangs with his mouth open. "Quick or slow?" he asked himself aloud. "Well, I do like them warm…"

Mirage shrieked and bolted from the couch, taking Auri with him. Then he snapped his visual-cloaking device on, and he and the femme-ling disappeared from sight.

Praxus grinned. He could hear Auri muffling her giggles. "Maybe I can't seeeeee you," Praxus cooed in a sing-song voice. "But I-"

Ratchet came in quickly. "What's going on?" he asked, shooting a stern look at First Aid. First Aid's grin died, as Praxus's. First Aid had been acting as supervisor for Auri and Praxus, and –no fan of Mirage- had been thoroughly enjoying Praxus's mischief against the blue and white mech.

Praxus cleared his throat uneasily. Ratchet's optics fell on him, and he suddenly realized that he could get in trouble. He lowered his wings a little.

"I was just playing vampire," he said innocently, "And Mirage took me way too seriously. I think he _really_ thought I was going to bite him." he chuckled sheepishly. "Embarrassing, rather, how he bolted and screamed like little femme-lette."

Mirage and Auri fizzled back into view. Auri was shaking so hard from giggling that she would have been rolling on the floor if Mirage hadn't been holding her.

"Oh, Praxus-!" she giggled, "That…." she was giggling too hard to talk.

Mirage found nothing funny about it, though. He eyed Praxus with extreme displeasure. Praxus had made a fool out of him.

Auri started coughing and choking. Mirage looked alarmed, and Praxus looked distraught.

Ratchet hurried over and took the femme-ling from Mirage. Turning her over a berth, and he gave her a firm thump on the back. Her system coughed once more, and then she was fine.

"Gotta laugh yourself sick once a week." Ratchet grumbled,

"I couldn't help it!" Auri protested earnestly. "Praxus was so funny!" she giggled again.

"Don't start that again." Ratchet said sternly, sharply, "I'm sure he was. Mirage, you run along. Auri needs some quiet time."

"Yes, sir." Mirage said quickly, cowed by Ratchet's tone. He bade Auri farewell then gave Praxus a spiteful look as he hurried towards the door.

Praxus smiled. Mirage was gone.

"I'll go take a nap with Soundwave." Auri told Ratchet then scampered off. She'd picked up on his sternness and knew that it would be wisest to get out of his way. First Aid went with her, leaving Praxus alone with the senior medical officer.

Praxus grew uneasy as Ratchet's optics settled on him.

"Tell me exactly what happened." Ratchet told him firmly.

Praxus lowered his helm and wings, pedes braced a little ways apart. He hoped he wouldn't get whopped for his mischief. He probably deserved it, though, he thought. "I hid behind the couch as Mirage came in. He and Auri sat on the couch and chatted, and he gave her candy. He was a real kiss-aft about it. After a bit, I got up from behind the couch and played like I… well… I scared Mirage with my tactics… playing like I… was… gonna…" he faltered guiltily. He decided he probably was going to get the wrench. He grimaced, showing his fangs at little, "Well, bite him."

Ratchet looked sad. "You can't _do_ that, Praxus." He said, sorrow in his tone, "You can't intentionally scare bots." He sounded more pleading than scolding, "That Decepticon insignia speaks against you, but if your actions back it up, you're going to have a harder time with us Autobots. You don't want that, Praxus. I don't want that for you. Don't play up your fangs to frighten anyone else again. You hear me?"

Praxus nodded. "Yes, sir." He said quietly.

"Alright." Ratchet said gently.

Praxus sighed. Now Ultra Magnus _and_ Mirage were going to be running about saying how evil he was.

"Why'd you do it, Praxus?" Ratchet asked after a moment.

Praxus forced a grin. "I just wanted Mirage to go away." He said cheerfully.

"Praxus." Ratchet wasn't fooled.

Praxus's wings lowered. "Well, I did." He said. He shrugged sullenly. "He's not a door-winger. And he's not her type. But he's clearly playing for her affections. I didn't want that going on."

Ratchet paused, considering the implications of Praxus driving off Auri's suitor. Praxus running Mirage off for courting Auri sounded just a little territorial –and possessive… not unlike the behavior of a rival. Ratchet didn't need that. It was the last thing he needed, having to deal with rivaling suitors in Med-Bay, one a former Decepticon.

"Well?" Praxus demanded, growing impatient uneasy. He wished Ratchet would get on with things and get his punishment over with.

"I'm just thinking." Ratchet said cryptically, "…about young mechs and femmes."

"Ratchet!" Praxus protested, "I don't want her for myself! I am _never_ going to seek a mate! But that doesn't mean I don't want Auri to get the right one. And Mirage is most certainly not the right one."

Ratchet looked amazed.

Praxus flicked his wings up and tilted his chin. "Hallo, Aurion," he said with a fake upper-class accent, "I've come worshipfully to your _exquisite_ presence bearing –well- _simply_ a mere transient tooken of my eternal affections. Some candy –as sweet as can be- but not _nearly_ so sweet as you." He finished off his mockery with a simper.

Ratchet bit back a chuckle. He dearly wanted to laugh at the disrespectful representation, but he knew he ought not encourage Praxus in such behavior.

"So I overdid it a touch." Praxus said, "But really… uhg."

A sympathetic smile touched Ratchet's face. "I understand your sentiments on the matter." He admitted. "However, that doesn't justify terrorizing the mech. Next time, just casually make some comment about Ironhide. Something like, 'Hmm, I wonder what Ironhide would think about that.' or 'Say, does Ironhide just _let_ you do that?' That'll run him off well, _and_ it won't get you in trouble. Make sense?"

Praxus nodded with a grin. "Yes, sir." He said, optics twinkling in admiration. "You're a genius, Ratchet."

"Not really." Ratchet said, but he was pleased nonetheless. He started turn to go back to his office.

Praxus took a couple steps after him. "You…" he faltered.

Ratchet paused and gave him his attention with curiosity.

Praxus hesitated. "You're… _not_ going to punish me?" he asked with a hesitant lift of his wings.

A confused smile found its place on Ratchet face. "No, Praxus… I'm not sure why I would."

"I intentionally scared Mirage."

Ratchet smiled with understanding now. "You did. But your intentions were honest, and you didn't know how else to follow them. You hardly knew any better. I've told you not to now, and I've told you how to deal with Mirage next time. If you were to scare him intentionally again, then I would punish you. But not this time."

"Oh." this was novel. And… nice. Praxus smiled, touched by Ratchet's amazing amount of fairness. "Thanks, Ratchet." He said softly.

OoOoOoOoOoO

(Day eighteen after Soundwave's arrival; five after Praxus's)

Praxus stumbled over the Cy-Stan word on the page he was reading aloud.

"You almost had it." Auri said gently.

"I _almost_ had it. Almost. Almost. _Almost._ It's f- frightfully getting on my nerves. Auri, I'm not getting it!"

Auri gazed in wonder at the frustrated mech beside her on the couch. "It's only the second page, Praxus," she said, optics wide, "You haven't had _time_ to get it yet."

Praxus paused and considered that as he cuddled with her.

"You didn't learn Con-Stan in a day, did you?" she asked, snuggling back.

"Well… no."

"Thus there is no logic in expecting to get good at Cy-Stan in one hour."

Praxus sighed. "Couldn't you just read it to me?"

"You wouldn't improve, and you need to know how to read it well for this base."

"Read just a couple pages?" he coaxed.

She paused.

He moved to nuzzle her neck.

"No." she said, putting a hand up to block his face, "I'll have to hit you if you do that, Ironhide's orders."

Praxus moved back obediently. "I beg pardon." He murmured. "It's confusing what I can and can't do… hug-yes, bite-no, snuggle-yes, nuzzle-no, wing-nudge-yes, wing-nip-no… I guess I know where not to put my hands, though."

"I think…" Auri paused, "I think it's the mouthy things." She said.

"Oh…" he saw that pattern now. Biting, nipping, and nuzzling all involved the mouth. And they were all outlawed.

"Yeah." Auri said, sure of it now. "You have to keep your mouth off of me."

"I can do that." Praxus said. He glanced towards Ratchet's back then back at Auri.

"Are you going to read some more?" she asked.

He looked down at the page on the data-pad. He didn't _really_ want to.

"Why don't you read five pages today?" Auri suggested, "And then I'll read one page for you."

"Alright." Praxus acquiesced, lowering his helm a little. He put his finger under the bothersome word that he'd left off on.

"Heretofore," Auri said gently,

"Heretofore." He repeated. Then he paused. "What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"

"Um… It means 'up until now.'"

"Oh." he said flatly.

"Go ahead and read." Auri encouraged gently.

He sighed then snuggled a little closer and resumed slowly reading the rules and regulations of NEST Base, stumbling over the harder words as he went. Auri gently corrected the words he got wrong, patiently making him repeat them until he had them down. "Good job," she would praise kindly once he finally got a difficult word right.

"Only two more pages to go." Praxus said finally, not without a sigh of relief.

"You're doing quite well, Praxus." Auri told him.

He paused to study her face a moment. "You're a good little tutor." He said, a gentle smile touching his lips.

"Thank-you." She said, "I'm just following Prowl's example in how he teaches me, though."

Praxus wasn't sure if she was rebuffing his compliment or not… he hesitated, and then he decided that she wasn't. She wouldn't be subtle if she was supposed to rebuff him. He smiled then sobered as he turned his attention back to his data-pad.

"'Hereinafter…'" he read on and on until he reached the end of the paragraph. "Is any of this relevant to me?"

Auri wrinkled her nose. "I don't know. It didn't make any sense to me when I read it."

"Wait… it…" he laughed, "_You_ don't know what it means?" he asked when his laughter subsided.

"Not this part. Later it makes sense. But here, only some bots know what it means."

"Dang."

"Praxus! Go wash with soap."

"Aw, Auri-"

"No." She pushed him, "You go wash your mouth with soap."

"I'll read ten pages-!" he bargained playfully, knowing that would never happen.

"I'm firm on this." She said, using a phrase she'd picked up from Chromia.

"Or twenty!" he coaxed, "Don't make me wash my mouth with soap… pleeeease! It'll taste bad and make me sick and vomit and get all worn out and miserable… you don't want that to happen to me, do you?"

Auri was trying very hard to not giggle at him, and she was doing quite well.

"Auri…?" he wheedled.

"N-no." she said as firmly as possible, "Worser things will happen to you if you keep up with the swears; you have to learn to not use them. Now go, or I'll get Ratchet involved, and it will be bad."

Praxus quit teasing and paused to study her from behind his visor. She had no idea what bad was. She thought a mouthful of soap was stern punishment, and bad was Ratchet's wrench applied firmly. He, Praxus, acted like soap and the wrench were bad, but they were almost nothing to him. He was willing to bet high stakes that she'd never been kicked until the life-Energon gushed, or whipped until she couldn't process all the pain, or strapped and beaten senseless. Maybe she had suffered a little deprivation of Energon as an abandoned orphan, but he was certain nobody had snatched her rations from her and humiliated her before tossing a little of it back at her. She had no clue what bad was.

"Are you going?" she asked sternly, chin jutting a little.

"Yes, ma'am." he said slowly. He rose and went over to the sink. Pumping some of the soap into his cupped hand, he glanced back at her. Then he washed his mouth out. It was, of course, nothing compared to having his back slashed to ribbons with an energy whip, but it was unpleasant. He spat the soap out and rinsed his mouth with water several times. Taking the hand-towel, he dried his mouth and chin and then tossed the towel back by the sink as he headed for the Energon cupboard.

He took a cube from the stores and drank a good bit of it, swishing it a little in his mouth to get rid of the soap taste. Then he went back to Auri and the data-pad of doom. He snuggled beside her and accepted the data-pad when she handed it to him.

"I should make my own list of rules and such." Praxus said, eyeing the regulations. "I could call it, 'An Ex-Decepticon's Guide to Surviving the Autobots.'"

That made Auri laugh softly.

He smiled resumed his reading.

He was on the first sentence of the fifth (and last) page that he had to read when Prowl walked in quite unexpectedly. Prowl halted when he saw them, his optics narrowing just a hint.

"Prowl-!" Auri greeted happily. She hopped up and scampered over to him. "Wait- Is everything alright? Why are you here?"

"Nothing new is wrong," Prowl said –because 'everything' was _never_ alright. "I have the afternoon off, and I thought… I mean… Last time we went to the beach… no, I-"

"I would enjoy another trip to the beach with you, Prowl." Auri said, smiling up at him.

His door-wings lowered a fraction. "As would I with you."

"However," Auri added, "I'm helping Praxus with reading the rules and guidelines since Cy-Stan is hard for him to read. He has a page to read aloud to me, and then I must read a page aloud for him, since I promised I would. You would have to wait for me a little bit, but then I could go to the beach with you."

It took Prowl a moment to process this. Then he gave a slow nod. "Very well." He said. '_I would wait a _long_ bit for you, Aurion-Blaze,_' he added silently. '_and I will_.'

"Okay." Auri said happily, blithely unaware of the conflicted feelings that were swirling through the mech's spark. "Would you like to sit with us while we finish?" she offered.

Prowl hesitated, but then he nodded; he nodded with reluctance for he knew full well that it would be exceeding uncomfortable.

He followed Auri back to the couch, noting that Praxus was standing braced and uneasy there.

Praxus ducked his head when Auri got close. "You shouldn't make him wait." He told her in a low, almost urgent tone.

"I promised you that I'd-"

"He's a second in command, Auri." Praxus hissed, grinding his teeth.

"And as such," Prowl said in a normal tone, "I would be displeased to see one under my command fail to uphold a commitment she has made."

Praxus felt panicked as he realized the error he'd made. _Most_ commanders required that they be attended to before anyone else, but _this_ commander required that promises be kept first and foremost. So, Praxus had advised Auri wrong. Right in front of this commander.

Praxus lowered his wings and helm, awaiting what punishing words –if not actions- would come from Prowl.

None came, though. There was an awkward silence that Prowl was comfortable with. Auri broke it.

"C'mon," she said, "Let's sit and finish reading."

Praxus sat close to her, almost snuggling close. He knew that Prowl had seen him snuggling with Auri when he had entered the room. Thus, if Praxus did not snuggle with her now that Prowl was obviously present, it would convey that he suspected that he shouldn't be snuggling with her in the first place. He dearly hoped he was guessing correctly.

"Okay," Auri was giving him the data-pad, "Where were we?"

"You were several inches too close, I believe." Prowl said. He was sitting to her left.

"I snug with Bee; why should I not snug with Praxus?" she asked.

"Bee bears the Autobot insignia. Praxus bears the Con one, filed though it may be."

Auri considered this.

"What would Ironhide say?" Prowl asked, his tone surprisingly gentle in Praxus's opinion.

Auri looked down. "Praxus doesn't act unlike an Autobot, Prowl. He should be treated like one."

Prowl was silent, fighting with various instincts, emotions, and bits of logic. Then he replied softly. "Talk to Ironhide and Chromia about this." He said, "See what they say and advise, and _listen_ to it."

"They don't know what he's like, so they're going to say things like he's a bad Decepticon out to get me!" Auri got upset, "Go away! Go to the beach alone. I don't want to go with you."

Prowl flinched, drawing back a little as if she'd slapped him. "Auri," he sounded hurt and confused.

"Go-!"

Praxus whispered frantically to the femme-ling, "Glitching Primus, what are you doing, Auri?"

"Bad words, Praxus!" she was quite upset now.

Praxus cringed. He was going to get it badly, now, he was sure. As was Auri for speaking so to a commander.

"Mean mouth!" she lashed at Prowl. "Bad mouth!" she lashed at Praxus. Then she got up and left the two of the sitting on the couch. "I'm not sitting with either of you." She said, facing them with her hands on her hips. Then she stalked away and sat on the floor against the wall that ran perpendicular to the couch.

Prowl stayed sitting –as did Praxus-, and he watched Auri with troubled optics. He had not meant to sound like he was speaking against Praxus; he'd only wanted her to exercise a little more discretion about whom she cuddled with. He must have used a wrong word somewhere… He needed to clarify, but he needed to get his words straight so he didn't mess up again.

Praxus, completely unnerved by Prowl's horrifyingly close proximity, sat as still as he possibly could, clutching the data-pad in his hands for dear life.

After a few minutes, Prowl got up and went over to Auri. "Come back and sit." He requested.

"Fine, commander." She said in a Chromia tone, getting up, "But I'm speaking to none of you." She added ungrammatically with a lift of her chin.

Prowl was greatly bothered by all of this, but he kept his calm. Getting her back on the couch was just the first step. He could –hopefully- calm her down and win her favor back from there.

The displeased femme-ling sat down on the couch with plenty of space between her and Praxus. Prowl was careful to sit no closer to her than she was to Praxus.

Praxus dared not move. Auri crossed her arms and refused to look at either of the "bad" mechs.

Prowl shifted a wing.

"Aurion," he said gently, "I was not speaking against Praxus. I merely wished to convey that you should exercise discretion with a new mech. Especially with a former Decepticon. A new mech does not know the norms and mores of here, and snuggling could easily be misinterpreted as an invitation for further -intimacy. I am not saying that _is_ the case, but that it is a probability that you should consider."

Auri hunched a wing.

"May my asking not displease the Commander," Praxus said formally and cautiously, "May I interject something?"

"You may." Prowl said.

"Auri," Praxus said, "Commander Prowl is right. A newcomer could easily misinterpret your willingness to snuggle. I have vowed to never –um- _mess_ with a femme, so you are safe with me. But, had I not vowed, I might have read invitation in your permissiveness."

"Oh…" Auri said softly.

"Also," Praxus added very softly, "You should not think your elders so harsh in regards to me. They have seen what it's like out there, as have I; we have experienced the horrors firsthand, but you have not. They only want to protect you. Commander Prowl was seeking to ensure your safety, not seeking to persecute me. You need not have risen so hotly to defend me."

Auri looked to Prowl.

The commander nodded. "That is well summed up." He said. "I would disagree with none of those statements." He added, a touch of humility in his tone.

Auri looked thoughtfully at her pedes for a couple moments, mulling over the mechs' words.

Praxus nudged her wing with his just a tiny bit.

"I'm still thinking." She told him sternly. She wiggled her pedes a little. "Aw… alright." She said, relenting. "I do see what you are saying, Prowl. And I see what you are saying, too, Praxus. Points taken."

"Very good." Prowl said, a hint of praise in his tone.

"However," she added happily, "Since Praxus _does_ know the rules and standards about me and touching, and _isn't_ going to _mess_ with me, he's allowed to snuggle with me as much a Bumblebee is."

It took Prowl a little longer to reply this time, and there wasn't a hint of praise. "That… is… fair –enough." He managed to say neutrally.

"Okay." Auri seemed to think that settled matters. "We're good then. Praxus, you may snuggle while you read."

Praxus warily scooted close to the little femme then brushed his finger over the data-pad to rouse it from sleep-mode.

"We were there." Auri said, snuggling against him as she pointed to the line he'd stopped at on the data-pad.

"Okay… yeah…" Praxus wasn't eager to start reading the regulations with the Second-in-Command sitting right there on the other side of Auri.

"'And Furthermore,'" Auri started it for him.

"'And Furthermore, it Shall be that…' um… err…" this wasn't a good start. "'And Furthermore, it Shall be that… that, in… … in…'"

"'And Furthermore,'" Prowl recited, "'It Shall be that inasmuch as the members of this enterprise seek and desire the furtherance of Peace and Tranquility,'"

"Um," Auri interrupted politely when he paused, "_Praxus_ is supposed to be _reading_, and besides, we're not to that part yet."

Prowl scooted over, close to Auri, and peered at the data-pad. "Oh, that page." He said, lifting his optic-ridges a little. "Excuse me then. Continue."

Praxus resumed his reading with trepidation.

Auri kept her optics on the data-pad and her face carefully neutral. Inside, however, she was grinning and giggling; of all things, Prowl, Prowl, Commander Prowl, dear _silly_ Prowl had scooted so that he was sitting close enough to her that she could feel the warmth of his body. As distant as he tended to be, that was practically _snuggling_ for him. And she liked it. _Immensely_. He was warm and darling. -And probably hoping that she hadn't noticed.

Praxus finished after a while, and accepted Auri's praise with lowered head and murmured thanks. She knew he would have had more things to say if Prowl hadn't been there. It made her sad to see how differently he acted when Prowl was around… it was like he thought he was going to get beaten or something, the way he ducked his head and spoke guardedly. However, she was comforted by the fact that she _knew_ Prowl wasn't going to beat him and that someday Praxus would know it, too.

She started reading her promised page, but she took care to not read very quickly. A Prowl almost-snuggle wasn't something that happened very often, and she didn't want to rush its end. It was delightful… a gentle energy seemed to come from him and warm her being.

Prowl's shoulder brushed hers as he leaned to point to the page. "You missed a line," he said gently.

"Oops…" She went back and read it. She'd not been focusing on the page, she realized. She'd been focusing on Prowl… not paying attention. It was harder to pay attention now, too, because Prowl's shoulder was still against hers. She wouldn't trade boxes of candy for that, for Prowl cuddling. Why, it was sweeter than any candy she'd ever had.

Praxus shifted uneasily. "Uh-"

Auri paused and turned her attention to him. He looked worried. "What, Praxus?" she asked gently,

"There… I mean… I don't know about earth's weather, but…" he wasn't sure what he was trying to say…

"It is raining." Prowl stated, having noted the changes in the air.

"Would you like to see it?" Auri asked Praxus.

He shook his head quickly.

"It's perfectly safe, though." Auri told him, but he shook his head again. "Aw, c'mon. I'll show you." She got up and took Praxus's hands, tugging a little.

Fearing Prowl, Praxus had no choice but to go with her to the courtyard doorway.

"See?" she said happily, "Isn't it pretty? And we can go out in it with no harm."

"No, thank-you." Praxus said, watching warily as Auri opened the door and put her hand in the light deluge.

"Oi!" she exclaimed, "It's hailing a little, too!" she snapped her hand closed and pulled it back. "See? Little bits of ice." She opened her hand for Praxus to see.

Praxus watched the ball of ice melt in her palm. It was gone in a few seconds. He didn't know what to say.

"Tiny hail like that is harmless, but sometimes there's bigger hail, and it's not good." Auri said, heading back to the couch. Praxus followed warily. "Anyways, no beach for us, Prowl. Hail does not feel good on the wings."

"No argument there." Prowl said, watching to see where she would sit. She sat right next to him, just as close as they'd been before, her shoulder brushing his. _That_ felt good. For once in his life, he was happy that it was hailing.

Praxus sat next to Auri as he had been, snuggling after a couple seconds. Then, rather boldly, he asked, "Does this mean you'll read more pages?"

"I'll read more if you'll read more." She said.

"Nnnngh…"

"It would be good for you." Auri tried to coax.

Praxus remembered that the Second in Commander was sitting on the other side of the darling femme then, so he said nothing more.

Auri nudged him a little. "Prax…?"

He moved uncomfortably. "As you see fit." He said, feeling cornered.

Prowl touched Auri's hand on the data-pad, drawing her attention to himself. "A willing student will become unwilling if pushed too far, Aurion," he said gently, "You do not want that for your pupil, and legal matter _is_ wearisome reading. -Even you were growing unfocused." He added. "I suggest we take turns reading Praxian works once you have finished your promised page of legal text. Would that be agreeable?"

Auri grinned. Sitting snuggled warmly between her highly idolized Prowl and her pitifully darling Praxus while listening to them read wonderful stories in their beautifully accented dialects… agreeable? There wasn't _anything_ disagreeable about that. And she took a sideways glance at Praxus. He gave her a shy little nod and smile.

"Most agreeable, Prowl." She said happily.


	19. Chptr 19, Meeting 'Mia & a Prime Debacle

Hiya! Got off work not long ago and dashed to the library so I could post this update before the place closed! ~I proofread, but there might still be typos- Lemme know if there are any bad ones. ;)

* * *

Chapter 19

**Meeting Chromia, and a Prime Debacle**

(Day nineteen after Soundwave's arrival; six after Praxus's)

Praxus was finishing off a solitary breakfast in Med-Bay's main room when he heard the entryway door. Generally, he would have jumped behind the couch to hide, but this time he sprang up and darted for the nearest door, the courtyard door.

He slipped through and closed the door. Stepping away from the door, he looked around; he'd not really looked at the courtyard yesterday when Auri had shown him the rain. There was a nice patio with some tables and some chairs, and the whole yard was walled, but there was a place where the wall was lower so one could look out but barred so one couldn't easily get out. Shapely boulders and rocks decorated the area along with some Cybertronian statues and statuaries and architecture.

It was almost Cybertron-like.

Praxus stepped into the morning sunlight and fanned his wings in rapt pleasure as the sun poured its energy and healing into them. It felt good… so good.

With a feeling of luxury, Praxus walked slowly to the barred section of the wall and peered out carefully. There was a street with sidewalks and light-poles and buildings lining it. A car zipped by with an organic carbon-based life-form in it, and a Jeep with two of the life-forms in it followed. Then the street was clear. Praxus peered less cautiously, putting his face close to the bars. It was a strange-looking place compared to Cybertron. But, he didn't hate it.

"…Courtyard, maybe?" That was Ironhide's voice near the door. Ironhide was going to open the door and look out and…

Praxus grabbed the bars and hoisted himself up onto the ledge below the bars then scrambled onto the top of the wall, scraping his leg in the process. Then he dropped down on the other side of the wall, hitting the ground a whole lot harder than he'd planned for.

OoOoOoOoO

Chromia heard a sound _thud_ and jumped to peer around the corner quickly. There, clearly having just dropped over the wall, was a door-winger, black as Ironhide and taller than Prowl. Praxus.

"Ouch! D-! -don't say that." he groaned, biting his lip in discomfort as he looked up at the wall. Chromia was amused, but she felt half bad for him. He'd found out the hard way that the ground outside the courtyard was lower, farther down, than the ground inside. He'd dropped farther than he'd planned for, and it had to smart, judging from the grimace on his lips.

Chromia was also amused that he hadn't noticed her yet and leaned her shoulder against the wall, crossing her arms lightly. She would watch.

Ironhide's tones came drifting through the air… "Auri? Mm. Nope, not here… Where _is_ everybody?"

Praxus ducked down quickly.

'_Avoiding my mech are you, youngling?_' Chromia mused.

She heard the door close a moment later, as did Praxus. A couple seconds passed, and then he got up and stood tiptoe to peer cautiously into the courtyard. Chromia looked him over well now that he was standing to his best advantage, and she grinned. If the Decepticon insignia didn't detract too much, there would be single femmes oohing and ahhing over his physique. A hot mech, he was. She wondered if Auri had noticed. –But, Auri hadn't seemed to notice how hot Prowl was yet, so she probably hadn't noticed it with Praxus either.

She watched as he moved; reaching up, he grasped the bars again, but they were too high up for him to pull himself up with. He seemed to try to pull himself up, but he was unable to. He growled and ground his teeth and tried harder, forcing his knee against the wall in hopes of giving himself a little boost. It didn't work. He tried pushing with a pede, but then he lost his grip and fell, landing hard on his rump. Chromia winced.

"Ow! Da- huh-uh! No glitching swears today –oh! fraggit it, I just… oh… shoot!" It wasn't going well for him.

He sighed and picked himself up gingerly, giving his backside a tender rub that made Chromia smile. Then he looked up at the bars, seeming to calculate his chances and options. He paused and sighed again before wrapping his fingers around the bars resolutely and bracing his knee against the wall. Pressing with his knee and pulling with his arms, he got up just a little. For a moment, it seemed like he would make it…

His knee slipped, and he went down, body falling with thump against the wall. He let go and dropped to his feet. He'd _almost_ had it. Flexing his fingers, he gusted cool air through his system and resolved to make it this time. Grasp bars, push with knee.

"Nghh-!" he couldn't. He dropped back down and rested his helm against the wall. He didn't have enough strength to get up. He was tiring himself out, too, Chromia knew, with all this futile trying.

He gripped the bars again, but he didn't exert any effort. He knew now that he couldn't get up, and his wings sagged as his chest heaved from the exertion of trying what couldn't be done. A truly pitiful sight he was. Chromia bit her lip, feeling sympathy for him welling up in her spark along with a deep pang of old memories.

Auri had told her that he had purple optics, so she knew their color even though they were visored with a black visor. Purple optics… Lavvy. Like her first best friend. And he had the same sort of stubbornness, too. "_You blue-ops give up too easy, and so do the red-ops._" The words echoed in her processor, "_We pur-ops, though, we don't give up. We're too glitched to know when to give up._" She missed him badly that moment, remembering how he'd grinned and winked at her when he'd said that. And how he'd groaned when he'd picked himself up after the beating. Poor mech…

Praxus growled weakly and tugged against the bars as if trying to will them to help him up. "Da- don't swear-!" He collapsed against the wall. Then he lost his grip and slipped down to the ground, trembling a little.

He was a mech. Chromia didn't like mechs. Didn't trust them.

But…

But…

He was a young one in need of a little help. And he was a pur-op, a purple-optic. Those ones had never been as bad as the other ones.

She pushed all sympathy and compassion out of her expression, focusing on her earlier amusement at his antics.

"Need a boost?" she offered sounding amused if not intrigued by his predicament.

Praxus snapped his head towards her, and his mouth opened a little as he flinched back in alarm. He stumbled to his feet and took a step backwards, his optics sweeping over her swiftly, taking in her shape and settling on her face with fear.

"How long've you been standing there?" he asked uneasily, lowering his wings. He was unsure and unnerved, and that gave Chromia the upper hand –which she had anyway. She preferred it that way. It was safer for her.

"Since you first scrambled over the top." She said, a grin touching her face.

He glanced up at the bars as if searching for a savior.

"You _could_ use the front door, but I'll give you a boost up if you're set on going back the way you came." She offered, the smile still playing on her lips.

"Um…" he sounded almost frightened, and she started to feel bad for him again.

'_Stop that._' she ordered herself.

The wings lowered some more then shifted a little. "Um-m… okay." He said hesitantly.

She sauntered over, keeping a nonchalant air so he wouldn't feel threatened as much. "Go on like you were," she said, "And I'll give you a shove."

"Okay. Uh… yes, ma'am." He shot her a sideways glance then took a hold on the bars again and braced his now scraped knee against the wall.

"One, two, three," Chromia counted off. Then he tugged himself up as she boosted him up with firm hands on his legs. She gave his rump a shove, and he made it up, catching the ledge below the bars with his other knee then pulling himself up so he was standing on the ledge.

He clung there, not moving for a moment as his system panted from the exertion. Then he looked down at Chromia.

"Thank-you." He said, sounding a tad unsettled.

"No problem." She said confidently, smiling up at him. "Good luck with Ratchet."

A tiny grin hit the corner of his mouth in a darling way. "Thanks." he chuckled uneasily then disappeared over the top of the wall.

Chromia stood there for a moment, replaying things in her processor.

"Hello," Ironhide said,

Chromia heard a tiny gasp and soft scuffle on the other side of the wall as she turned to face her spark-mate.

"Hey, mech." She greeted, accepting Ironhide's embrace. He was all hers, and she loved that. Ironhide's hands traveled down her hips. Wait-! too late. She shot a surreptitious sideways glance up at the barred courtyard window as Ironhide reached a little lower for her behind. Praxus was watching with rapt curiosity, and his wings quirked up with interest when Ironhide's hand got its target. Great.

"Were you looking for me?" Ironhide asked as his hands slipped back up to her waist.

"Yeah." She said dryly, taking out a heavy gun, "This thing's been misfiring half the time. Need you to fix it."

"I can do that." Ironhide said, a grin on his face. "Come down to my shop and watch me?"

"You know I always like watching you." She said. Then she slapped his rump hard as he turned to head up the street. His optics widened in surprise as he halted and looked down at her.

"Now, what was that for?" he asked, a little confusion knitting his brow.

"Love-swat." She said although it had been far too stinging to be loving. "Let's go." She said. Then she looked up at Praxus. "See you later, sweet cheeks."

Praxus ducked swiftly with a little gasp.

"Uhhumn." Ironhide said, his mouth twisting to hide a grin.

"No kidding." Chromia said, but she slipped her hand in his as they walked off.

They turned the corner.

"Glitching mech. You think that's funny?" Chromia asked dangerously.

"No, ma'am?"

"You're a terrible liar."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Kiss-up."

"I could-"

"Shut up."

"Look,"

"No."

"Yes." Ironhide turned and caught her chin as they halted, him standing before her, pedes braced apart in case there might be a fight.

"Unhand me, mech."

Ironhide released her chin and clasped his hands together. "Listen. I _did_ think it funny. Don't we normally enjoy discomfiting the young bots?"

"We _weren't_ discomfiting him." Chromia informed him grimly. "We were _interesting_ him. Greatly."

Ironhide's optics widened. "Oh…"

"Yeah-ah! You should have seen how interested he was! Wings flicked up like Prowl's when you give him a bit of data he's not had before. Rapt interest!"

Ironhide rubbed his helm. "Oh." he said grimly again for lack of anything better to say. He moved back to Chromia's side, and they resumed their walk towards his forge. "Well…" he said slowly after a moment. "Auri has my rules, and she'll follow them. She'll punch him, and whoever is supervising will step in as well. Besides, from what she's said about him, I don't quite think he would try out what he saw."

Chromia raised a dubious and contemptuous optic-ridge. "Ironhide. You aft. Mechs are _all_ grabby-hands."

"Even Prowl?" Ironhide asked with feigned shock. He knew Chromia's opinions on mechs.

"Prowl has remarkable self-restraint." Chromia stated, "So he wouldn't. Praxus, however, we don't know about. Besides. He is stinkin' hot. I'm pretty sure he's used to femmes just panting for him to grab them."

"Mmnnnuh!" Ironhide said, slightly disconcerted, "Well, I've never gotten an optic on the mech-ling."

"Stinkin' hot." She reiterated, "With an aft to rival yours. And door-wings. Do Praxians have any clue how sexy their wings are?"

"Maybe? I don't know."

"Oh."

They walked in companionable silence for a block. Then,

"Wait a sec." Ironhide said, "I was in that courtyard several minutes before I left Med-Bay, and those minutes I was in Main room. He couldn't have sneaked past me. Where was he?"

Chromia grinned. "He climbed the wall to avoid you." she said, and she was well amused by the look on Ironhide's face.

"But how did he get back in-?"

"I gave him a boost." Chromia was highly pleased with herself.

"So, he climbed the wall and dropped down outside to avoid me, and then you boosted him up so he could get back in once I left?"

"It's a little more detailed than that." Chromia said. Then she told him how Praxus had tried several times to climb back up, including him falling and the brief bought of swearing. "I offered once it was clear that he wasn't going to make it. He was pretty unsure about me, but he wasn't rude, and he did say 'yes, ma'am' nicely. _And_ he thanked me."

Ironhide grinned. "So, now what do you say of him?"

"Mmm… I don't know yet. I liked how much determination he showed in trying to get back in. But, determination can be bad when it comes to some things. I can't complain about how he addressed me, but that was just a first meeting."

Ironhide smiled. Chromia almost liked Praxus. She just wasn't going to admit it.

OoOoOoOoO

Praxus felt rather unnerved and quite unsettled.

He gusted cool air through his system several times. And then he made his way back into Med-Bay from the courtyard. Ratchet was there now, his back to the Praxus as he worked. Praxus tried to slip quietly to his room to no avail.

"And why might you be sneaking?" the savvy medic asked, turning to face him. He raised on optic-ridge when he saw how scraped up Praxus's finish was.

"Um…" Praxus stopped and stood there, looking wary. "I slipped into the courtyard to hide from Ironhide," he started. That made Ratchet smile, and it reassured Praxus, so he went on with less fear. "But then Ironhide came for the courtyard, so I climbed the wall and dropped down on the other side so he wouldn't see me. And then I had an awful time trying to get back in…. until this femme offered to give me a boost up. So I agreed, and she did, and now I'm back."

Ratchet was eyeing him now with some amazement. "Who was this femme?"

Praxus shrugged. "She was sky blue. And Ironhide-" he grinned a little. Then he looked uncertain. Maybe that was inappropriate. He wasn't sure.

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge. "There's only one sky-blue femme on base, and that's Ironhide's spark-mate, Chromia."

"Chromia?" he'd heard about how fearsome she was from Auri.

Ratchet nodded.

"She wasn't as terrifying as I thought she'd be." Praxus commented offhandedly. That made Ratchet smile drily; Praxus was new yet; he'd learn.

OoOoOoOoO

It was a quiet afternoon.

Jolt was studiously doing some research on one of the computers in the main room. It was a slow task, scrolling through the countless results that his search words returned, but every now and then, something of use would show up. Ratchet had infinite patience when it came to dealing with patients, but he hated doing research unless it was extremely important. Thus, the task often fell to Jolt and First Aid. 'Find some stuff on…' Ratchet would say, and the junior medics would spend hours pawing through the medical data-banks that they'd brought from Cybertron.

First Aid was slowly mopping the floor. It wasn't a task he loved, but there were tasks on his list that he liked less, so he was taking his time. He wandered back to the store-room to get some more cleaning agent and the 'wet floor' signs.

Ratchet had the day off and was in his personal quarters, recharging.

All was quiet.

Time for Praxus to liven things up.

Jolt was typing a variation of his search phrase into the search-bar when a reflection in the computer screen caught his attention. He kept typing but focused his optics on the reflection. Then he mentally rolled his optics. Praxus was creeping up behind him.

The dark Praxian had been gaining strength more quickly the past couple days, and now he had energy- and way too much free time. He was very well-behaved for Auri and seemed to like sitting with her and Bumblebee –though he never spoke to Bee and sometimes stared at him as at a ghost. When Auri wasn't there, though, - and when Ratchet wasn't present- he was mischief. He'd dedicated roughly two hours of the past few days to getting on Jolt's nerves. And he did it quite well.

"Arrrrrrrrr!" Praxus growled playfully, grabbing Jolt's sides. Jolt stiffened. "Look what I founnnnd." Praxus said with gusto, grinning. "Lunnnch,"

"Give me space, Praxus," Jolt ordered, pushing the younger mech's face away from his shoulder. "Aigh! Don't- No biting! You don't do that! Praxusssssss-!"

Praxus chuckled, not releasing Jolt's hand from his teeth. He wasn't hurting Jolt or drawing life-Energon, but he was sure making the junior medic mad and it was fun.

Jolt used his free hand and hit Praxus's fingers on his left side and then on the right. This worked effectively in making the brat release him, but the fangs were still happily lodging on his hand armor.

"Let go of my hand." Jolt ordered.

"Mnn-mnm-nnnn-mmmuh." Praxus's optics were still visored, but Jolt was pretty sure they were twinkling.

"I'm serious." Jolt said, "I will take this wrench to you." He warned, flipping a wrench out of subspace.

"Mmm-aw." Praxus released his hand. Then he snatched the wrench from Jolt before Jolt realized what he was up to.

"Hey-! Give that back!"

"Jolty wants his wrenchy!" Praxus pranced away, twirling the wrench.

'_Seriously?_' Jolt thought. He opted to ignore the crazy winger and turned back to his computer, knowing he'd get his wrench back sooner or later.

Praxus was back behind him a couple moments later, doing nothing. Jolt kept working, but he knew Praxus would be up to something soon.

"Aigh-!" he yelped and jumped when Praxus poked him suddenly in the back with the wrench. "Seriously, Praxus? I'm a medical officer,"

"But not the senior one." Praxus said happily.

"As I am a medical officer, you are to treat me with the respect due my position."

"Rules, rules. Is that why you're scrolling through ultra-bytes of irrelevant data?"

Jolt ignored him.

Then he roared in pain when Praxus slammed the wrench into his shoulder. "PRAXUS!" he bellowed, whirling to face the miscreant. He lunged after the Praxian, who seemed to think it was funny.

"Nope, nope!" Praxus laughed, "Can't catch me!" he sang,

"I HAVE GLITCHING HAD ENOUGH-"

"Bad word, Jolt!" Praxus exulted, skipping around a berth.

"-OF YOU AND YOUR SHENANIGANS!" Jolt finished.

Praxus paused on the opposite side of the berth from Jolt. "You're been ignoring me completely, how can that be?"

"YOU'VE BEEN DRIVING ME IRATE!" Jolt lunged after him again.

Praxus laughed and ran, dodging Jolt. He knew he would eventually get caught and get in trouble, but it was fun for the moment… well, fun in a bitter way. He would never get to engage in any truly fun activity with Jolt or any of the other mechs, so he pretended that aggravating Jolt was fun. He gained a certain amount of satisfaction from getting a reaction from the other mech. He told himself that it was as much attention as he could get. And he would enjoy it.

He did enjoy it.

He laughed. And he teased Jolt a bit as the other tried throwing a spare wrench at him. "Oh-ho! A rare art-form, wrenching-throwing! Not a master at it yet are you? Whoop!" he nearly let Jolt hit him then darted away.

He chortled as he sprinted across the room, the angry junior medic at his heels.

First Aid appeared then shouted in alarm. "WET FLOOR!" He darted towards his mopping area, waving his hands at Praxus to stay away.

He was a little late, though.

Praxus's pede hit the slick wet floor and flew out from beneath him. He crashed into the floor, sliding, still carried forwards by the momentum he'd gained while running from Jolt. "Yow-! Glitching-" he crashed to a halt against something firm and solid. "No swears." He reminded himself. He shifted and groaned. "Hell, First Aid, what did you put on the floor?"

First Aid didn't say a word, though. Neither did Jolt. They both looked more than a little uncomfortable.

Praxus grinned at them. "Oh, it's okay. I won't tell Ratchet I nearly got killed slipping on your wet floor."

First Aid swallowed.

Praxus looked up at the regal mech whose pede he was lying against. It took a second for things to click in Praxus's processor. And then they did.

Praxus jerked away from the mech's pede like it was branding hot, unleashing a frightfully profane bunch of words as he scrambled away. The floor was too slick, so he scuttled backwards on his pedes and hands like Starscream afraid to expose his back and wings.

He shot a terrified look up at the mech again and realized who he was.

It was Optimus Prime.

Praxus froze.

He'd run smack into _THE PRIME_.

He was going to die. No, worse, he was going to lose his happily-eaten lunch on First Aid's newly mopped floor. And then he was going die.

He rolled over to lose his meal, but then he gained a little control and choked it back. He wasn't going to lose his lunch. He was going to run. The floor right where he was was mostly dry. He could make it out of the room from where he was.

He jumped up and bolted for the hallway, which lead to the safety of his room.

First Aid had mopped near the hall, though. "Praxus-!"

Praxus slipped for a second time the day, but he crashed into the wall this time before slamming down, hard, onto the floor. Every bit of him stung from the impact, and he bit back the keening whimper that rose to his throat. He pressed his fingers hard against his palms and tears filled his optics.

NO!

He could not cry.

If there was one thing he had to NOT do, it was cry.

Decepticons, M-Y in particular, did not cry.

He heard First Aid and Jolt murmuring to each other. Then he heard First Aid coming towards him.

'_You're going to get kicked,_' a voice in his head warned him,_ 'You messed up and failed. Twice, there. You're gonna get kicked and taunted and abused. Remember last time you were clumsy enough to fail and mess up twice in a day?_' There had been life-Energon on the floor, dripping from his mouth as well as his body. He'd choked on it as he'd screamed for them to stop, but of course no one ever stopped until they were done with their sport. And they had humiliated him beyond reason, too. He wasn't supposed to care what he suffered, but he had. He had, and that had made the punishment all that more unbearable.

He didn't want that again. He didn't.

He couldn't take it.

He _wouldn't_ take it.

"Praxus…?" First Aid said guardedly, coming close, "Are you hurt?"

Praxus couldn't answer. His processor was a swirling messed of trauma and terror. He couldn't think.

"Can you get up?" First Aid asked.

He had to think. He had to think… he had… to…

"Praxus?" First Aid asked fearfully.

Fear. M-Y fed on fear. It was M-Y, and M-Y was unstoppable, unhurtable. M-Y destroyed anything it wanted to, anything that threatened it. No one was going to hurt it. No one was going to humiliate or pain it. It didn't suffer. It won victories and triumphs. It. Was. Strong.

"No-" Praxus gasped out, fighting for his identity. He wasn't M-Y. He was not M-Y. He felt a warm hand nearing its –his- shoulder. "No –don't touch me-"

The hand hesitated.

"Don't-" Praxus choked. If whoever that was touched him, he would panic completely and the M-Y programming would gain the foothold it needed, and he would become M-Y...

"It's okay," some voice said as the hand made contact with his shoulder.

"NO!" Praxus screamed; he didn't want to be M-Y. The programming came kicking in, tearing him apart, shredding his being, "NO!" he howled in agony. "RATCHET" he screamed, "RATCHET! RATCHE-"

"Ratchet's coming, Ratchet's coming." The hand shook him a little, gently. He twisted and sang its fangs and teeth into the hand. "Ow-!" someone gasped in pain, sounding faint.

It…. H… It bit harder. Life-Energon, with its particular taste flowed into its mouth, and it tasted the metal of the other mech's hand. It knew that- knew that- knew… he…? -he'd bitten this mech before. And the mech was still alive? Nobody it bit ever got to live. It always killed them after it bit them, but this one he'd let live for some reason. The confusion angered it, and it bit more, tearing the hand a little-

"Ah-! Praxus, please-" someone gasped.

Who was Praxus? Who-

"C'mon, don't bite me," the someone coaxed faintly, "We're friends, Praxus, remember? –ohPrimushavemercy-" the someone gasped in pain, "Listen, Praxus, Praxus… you played games the other day, scared Mirage –I liked that- that was fun- and Auri loved it –remember Auri? –she's your friend- Ratchet is, too-"

Ratchet- ?

Ratchet…

No-

It ground its teeth on the hand.

"AHH-!" the someone cried out. "Praxus –why are you biting me? We're friends, remember? Please remember-"

Praxus… Praxus…

It was biting someone, but that someone said they were friends and M-Y didn't have friends.

"You bit me before-" the someone gasped out weakly, "And then- you stopped and… we decided to trust… and we became friends."

It was biting… his friend…?

It… he? He blinked its optics, trying to see, but his visor was broken.

"Praxus-?" the someone sounded in terrible pain and fear.

Was it Praxus… maybe? Was he? Was that his name?

"Please don't bite me again, Praxus." First Aid whispered.

It was… _He_ was… he was Praxus…! No… he wasn't M-Y… he couldn't be. The M-Y program glitched away to dormancy to hid from the conflicting barrage of data.

Praxus loosened his jaws slowly, releasing First Aid's hand with horror as his senses returned. He tasted the life-Energon in his mouth and throat and got sick immediately, vomiting on the floor. When he finished that, he realized that he was feverishly hot, over-heated, and something warm and sticky was trickling down from his shoulder.

"Can't see-"he choked out,

"Your visor's broken," First Aid said weakly. He sounded like he was going to be sick in a moment as well.

"I bit you…?" Praxus murmured miserably.

"Yeah." First Aid really sounded unwell.

"I didn' mean t-" he broke off as he heard someone coming in, "Ratchet-!" he cried. He knew it was his dear medic even without sight.

"What-" Ratchet broke off, "What happened?" he sounded upset, almost angry, as he came over. Then Praxus heard the senior medic gasp with horror. "First Aid…" his words were barely above a whisper. "Jolt- get- repair kit." Praxus felt something warm leave his shoulder as Ratchet's hands started touching him. "Can you get up, Praxus?" Ratchet asked.

"I can't see through my broken visor…"

Ratchet's hands were at his face now, and the visor was off in a couple moments. The expression on Jolt's face was one of shock, revulsion, and abject horror as he stood there with some medical supplies. The expression on First Aid's face was one of shock and trauma. His hand…

Praxus's optics widened then filled with tears. First Aid's hand was a raw mess of exposed wiring and nerve wires, life-Energon covering it and dripping from it.

"First Aid-!" Praxus cried, hiding his face.

"Sh-sh," Ratchet hushed him. "He'll be alright. Come on up. We need to get you on a berth."

Praxus wished that he'd died those few of days ago when he'd had a chance. Ratchet helped him up, and it hurt, but he didn't utter a word. Ratchet settled him on a berth and placed a hand below his wings.

"Do you think you need to be restrained?"

Praxus nodded without hesitation. He didn't, actually. Not now; it was too late now. He would feel better, though, if he was. He deserved it.

He didn't resist as Ratchet cuffed his wrists and ankles to the berth. He just lay there, unmoving. Then he listened as Ratchet and First Aid talked in low tones. Ratchet's voice was calm and steadying, and First Aid's was… well, he sounded like he was going to be sick and glitch out or faint. They weren't very far away from Praxus, just the next berth over.

Praxus focused and was able to hear their words,

"…hitting the wall pretty hard before going down. He didn't move, so Jolt and I got worried. W-well… I… went over, and he wouldn't respond to me. An-and th-then, he said to- not- touch- him…"

"Oh, First Aid. You didn't."

"I did. I hesitated, but he seemed upset, in need of comfort. I shoulda listened."

"No joke." Ratchet sounded grim.

"He bit so hard… then he'd start to loosen a little and then he'd bite harder." He sounded like he was shaking and maybe even crying.

"To ghastly effect." Ratchet murmured. "It's a good thing, Aid, that he missed your fingers."

"I know." First Aid paused. "I talked to him the whole time, though, Ratchet. It seemed to confuse him and upset him. He… he was so panicked that he didn't recognize me. He _sorta_ recognized your name, but then he bit harder after a pause. But, I k-kept talking to him, and he finally realized it was me, and… and let go. He got sick immediately. He was really upset… said he didn't mean to. That's… that's where you came in."

The medics were quiet then.

Ratchet shifted after a moment. "You rest. I'll be back after I talk with Optimus." Praxus heard Ratchet pat the younger medic's shoulder then get up and walk away.

Praxus sighed as he lay there with his face in a pillow. He tallied up his evils for the day. Tormenting Jolt; that was a good one. Running into Prime; just… shoot. Going M-Y and mauling First Aid's hand; yeah. He was in for it big time. Ten lashes…? He bit his lip. Ten would be the warm up. Prime was involved, and Ratchet had told him to not bite First Aid again. He would be in for at least forty. His hands tightened into fists. It had been a while since he'd taken a whipping. He still remembered where each lash had fallen, though.

He felt a little faint at the thought of Ratchet wielding a whip. Then he calmed himself. Ratchet wouldn't do it. He was a healer, not a punisher. He wouldn't have to spark for it. Someone else would, someone not from Medical. Someone who could stand to use a whip and knew _how_ to use a whip.

He writhed a little at the thought. They would remove his battle armor first, or, if they were sadistical, they'd make him remove it himself. Then he'd be bound, and the lashing would start, the whip cutting into his back and sides and aft… maybe his thighs, too. He felt sick. Not his thighs… the whip curling in-

Ultra Magnus. That's who would _love_ to use the whip. Magnus would enjoy whipping him.

"No…!" he whimpered. Magnus would have no mercy, and he desperately needed mercy at present.

"Praxus?" First Aid asked gently. He sounded a little stronger now, less faint.

Praxus bit lip, willing himself to not cry.

"Praxus, what's wrong?" He heard First Aid slip off the berth and come over.

"Wh-who's-s-gonn-a-a-w-wh-i-ip-m-meee-e?" he whimpered unintelligibly.

"W-what?" First Aid asked gently. He started to move his good hand towards Praxus but then pulled back.

Praxus dragged his face across the pillow and turned his head so he was facing the young medic. "Hu-Who's g-gonna-a wh-… whip me."

First Aid stared, his optics huge as his mouth fell opened. Then he shut his mouth and blinked quickly. "P-Praxus, nobody's gonna whip you." He said, sounding disconcerted. "Where would you get such i… idea." He faltered. "Never mind." He said gently. He hesitated and then sat down beside Praxus on his berth. The young Con was trembling horribly, his unhidden optics full of tears.

First Aid move his hand then stopped. "Would… would it make you feel better or worse if I touched your back?"

"I-I d-don-n-n-t kn-n-n-o-" Praxus hiccupped.

First Aid hesitated and then put his hand gently on Praxus's back, a little below his door-wing connectors. Praxus seemed to freeze a little for a moment, but then he continued to tremble. First Aid brushed one finger across the black armor; then, after a moment, he began to gently rub Praxus's back, using the same touch he used on Auri when she was inconsolable or Bee when he was plain miserable.

The trembling eased incrementally. Praxus began to calm down under the medic's gentle touch.

"It was just an accident," First Aid said kindly once Praxus was lying still, no longer trembling. "And it was mostly my fault, too. I should have put up 'wet floor' signs sooner, and I should have listened when you said not to touch you."

Praxus couldn't say anything; too miserable and choked up was he to speak a word.

First Aid went on. "Ratchet will probably give the lot of us a few stern words about horseplay since you and Jolt were tearing about, but other than that, I don't see any of us getting punished. And in the odd chance that we _do_ get punished, it most certainly wouldn't be with a whip. –or anything else that breaks or tears."

Praxus shifted and rubbed his face in the pillow, trying to dry the tears. He was done crying for the moment. –Although, he thought, he would probably be shaming himself with more tears sooner or later.

"Do you _really_ need these restraints on?" First Aid asked, sounding a little upset by them.

Praxus shook his head, and First Aid got up to remove them.

"Well," Praxus said softly, uncertainly, "Just leave one on this wrist." He shook his left hand a little.

"Alright."

Once First Aid was done, Praxus shifted to his side painfully and tucked his right arm under his imprisoned left one. He looked up with shy wonder at the junior medic as First Aid sat down beside him again. First Aid put his right hand, his good hand, on Praxus's side, and rested his bandaged mangled left one in his lap. Praxus's side rose then fell as he took in a cooling gust of air to calm himself and let it out again.

"What happened back there?" First Aid asked softly, "Why did you…"

"Turn into a beastly little monster and maul you?" Praxus asked bitterly.

"Those weren't gonna be my words." First Aid reproached.

"They would fit, though." Praxus murmured. He shifted his arm and reached slowly for First Aid's bandaged hand.

First Aid drew a sharp intake of air, but he made himself keep still. He let Praxus touch the hand he'd so recently damaged. His hand was numb from pain-killers; he couldn't feel a thing, but he saw Praxus's fingers on his fingers.

"I panicked completely." Praxus said softly, "I… couldn't process… I was that panicked. When I couldn't process, the M-Y programming in me started kicking in, trying to intervene and take over so I could fight you –kill you- and 'save' me from you. I fought it… but… I guess I wasn't strong enough… 'cause… this happened." His optics had never left First Aid's hand.

"You won, though," First Aid said earnestly, "You came to yourself and stopped biting."

"I heard you talking." Praxus said uncertainly, "You… said… we were friends."

First Aid nodded.

"That confused the program, for an M-Y has no friends."

"So," First Aid said slowly, with a trace of a smile, "That means you're not an M-Y, for you _do_ have friends."

Praxus nodded with a shaky sigh. Then his optics filled with tears. "But I could turn M-Y again if things went badly enough, and I could h-hurt- th-them."

"Does M-Y behavior stem from a program, Praxus?" Firs Aid asked,

Praxus nodded with sniffle. "It does to a degree." He managed to say. "There's training and we're taught and drilled. That part I've been able to overcome bit by bit, but the program that's in my processor… I've not been able to find a way…" he bit his lip, "It's too ingrained, too integrated. It's a virus with no cure, a virus that I will never be able to get rid of." His voice broke at that.

"You're talking to a medic here." First Aid said gently, "And we like to get second opinions. Don't give up hope, Praxus. Keep hope. Maybe we _can't_ remove it, but maybe we _could_ block it. Why- wait a moment-! If M-Y response-behavior is a program, then-" he went on eagerly, but Praxus had no idea what he was saying.

"First Aid."

He kept on talking eagerly.

"Mech."

"And then,"

"HEYYYY! Listen to me!" Praxus demanded, "Remember me? The mech lying here in pain? I have something to say."

First Aid blinked at him, wondering at his sudden rancor.

"I don't understand your medical-babble, First Aid." Praxus said gently, nice now that he had the medic's attention.

"Oh…! I'm sorry." First Aid, looking a little embarrassed. "I shoulda… yeah. Chromia belted me upside the head pretty hard once for using too many terms and confusing her. I've been more careful since then, but I forgot. Um… okay." He paused. "Simply put… errr… yeah. The M-Y program –if it's like what I'm thinking it might be- responds to certain stimuli or sets of stimuli. Got that so far?"

Praxus nodded.

"So. The stimuli trigger a response. –A virus-like response from the M-Y program. So. What we do, is we set up another program, one the responds to the same stimuli that the M-Y program does. And its function would be to help you cope with fighting the M-Y program –or virus, if we want to call it that."

"Okay…" Praxus said slowly. That _might_ make sense.

"So, in other words, the stimuli would trigger the M-Y virus, but it would also trigger the program that would help you defeat the virus."

"Is that possible?" Praxus asked.

First Aid nodded his head. "It would be a little tricky setting up the parameters and… stuff, and it might not work every time until it's been well-tested."

"This _sounds_ like in experiment." Praxus hated being experimented on.

"It's been done for other programs." First Aid said, "But not M-Y programming that I know of. The concept is simple, though."

"I've got a simpler solution." Jolt said.

Praxus jerked his head and found that Jolt was sitting on the other berth looking like someone had put waste sludge in his Energon.

First Aid raised an optic-ridge at his comrade.

"A simple glitch-out." Jolt said. "When the M-Y program becomes active, the system will automatically shut itself down, and you go to sleep for a little while."

"I don't like that!" Praxus half-shouted.

"Sh-sh," First Aid calmed him down.

"It's much simpler and tried and true than what First Aid is suggesting." Jolt said, "Aid's suggestion would take weeks and weeks of difficult programming, extensive simulation testing and then real testing, and then it might not work every time."

Praxus growled at him.

"Don't." First Aid told Praxus. "What he said is true."

"I don't like the glitch-out option!"

"Hey, sh-sh." First Aid rubbed his back soothingly, "Shouting is not necessary; we're both right here ready to listen to your words."

"I don't like the glitch-out idea." Praxus grumbled.

"Why not?" First Aid asked gently.

"'Cause! I'd been out cold! Defenseless!"

"You have a point." First Aid said. He had counter-points, but now, he knew, was not the time for an argumentative discussion. Praxus needed soothing and rest. "Let's talk about it later, alright?"

"Alright." Praxus said, and the ease with which he gave in told First Aid how tired he was.

"Do you want to rest right now?"

"I wanna kick Jolt's aft." He replied with pouty spite, and First Aid and Jolt both looked askance at him.

"I didn't do anything to you." Jolt said, raising an optic-ridge in doubt of Praxus's sanity.

"You ignored me and snubbed me and blocked me." Praxus reproached.

"You made a pest of yourself, Praxus. No medic likes being irritated while he's trying to work."

"You weren't always working. And you were never working so hard that you couldn't have stopped a few minutes." Praxus's optics were very reproachful as he said this.

"A few minutes? A few minutes for what?" Jolt was feeling harassed and very confused.

"Me." Praxus said in a small voice.

"You had all Ratchet's and First Aid's cares; you didn't need mine as well." Jolt retorted.

Praxus lowered his optics. "I didn't want your cares…" he said quietly, "I… I wanted…" the black wings lowered, "well… friendship."

Jolt opened his mouth to exclaim something then shut it. He stared at Praxus and then at First Aid. First Aid shrugged a shoulder.

"Praxus." Jolt glared at him in disbelief. "If you want friendship, you start out by being _nice_. Not by making a royal nuisance of yourself."

Praxus squirmed uncomfortably. "I- I don't know how to make friends."

"Well, you're friends with Auri." He bit out.

"That's 'cause she made me be friends. I wasn't going to try to be friends with her, but she…" he shrugged uncertainly, "I couldn't help it."

"And that's because she was nice."

Praxus lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry, Jolt."

"Oh, it's okay." Jolt said, but he didn't mean it.

"Can I have a second chance?" Praxus asked hopefully.

"You would have to be nice." Jolt said testily.

Praxus lowered his optics. Something about Jolt's tone was pushing him away. Jolt didn't want to be friends, he realized. "Never mind." He mumbled.

First Aid gave Jolt a reproachful look, but he didn't press the subject.

Ratchet came over and huffed at them as he looked over them. "I ought to turn the lot of you over my knees one by one and spank you like the sparklings you are." He said.

Jolt and First Aid looked ashamed. Really, they _had_ indeed been acting beneath their years.

Praxus looked grim. "Do not humiliate them, Ratchet." He ordered gently, "They serve you too well for you to do that to them. I am the one to be punished; I was antagonizing Jolt, and First Aid was not even present until too late."

Ratchet gazed down at the winger on the berth, a look of wonder on his face. Praxus… Praxus was the least to blame and the one with the least authority, yet he –lying cuffed to a berth, in fact,- was quietly trying to order Ratchet to not discipline his junior medics and to punish him instead. Ratchet marveled a little at that and found himself torn between admiration for the young mech's sense of responsibility and disapproval of his attempt to order a senior officer. He was, though, curious to see what Praxus would say if he disagreed with him.

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge. "Jolt should have exercised self-control and self-discipline and not risen to your badgering. First Aid should have put up 'wet floor' signs."

"A mech can only exercise self-discipline for so long when being goaded continuously, Ratchet." Praxus replied eloquently, "Jolt is hardly to be blamed; I am a royal nuisance when I wish to be, and I wished very well. Regarding First Aid, who is to say he was not in the other room retrieving said 'wet floor' signs when he heard Jolt yelling at me and came to intervene?"

Ratchet repressed a bit of a smile. Praxus was good.

"You argue nicely, Prax." Ratchet said, "But I know my junior medics, and I will hold them responsible for their actions –or inaction. As I will you."

"Don't humiliate them, Ratchet." Praxus ordered. "They don't deserve that."

Ratchet decided that, as interesting as Praxus's behavior was, he'd better put an end to the bossing. He went over and folded a hand firmly over the top edge of Praxus's wing. He knew from Prowl that this was fairly shouting one's authority over a Praxian in body language. Praxus froze.

"I understand that you want to look out for Jolt and First Aid," Ratchet said gently, "But you are not to give me orders, understood?"

"Yes. Understood, sir." Praxus replied, lowering his wings.

Ratchet unhanded Praxus's wing and saw relief flood the young mech's troubled expression. He patted Praxus's shoulder. "Don't worry about those two." He said, motioning toward Jolt and First Aid with his head, "I'm just going to talk to them and help them figure out what they should do next time. And First Aid has a hurt hand to remind him of things for a while."

Praxus lowered his optics.

"As for you," Ratchet said gently, "You misaligned your back when you slammed into that wall. The realignment won't feel good, and it will ache for a couple days. I think that will be reminder enough of why you shouldn't run around indoors."

Praxus nodded.

"Alright." Ratchet said, shifting to move on to realigning Praxus's back. He paused. "All questions answered?" he asked.

Praxus lowered his chin a little. "You… _weren't_ going to… spank any of us?"

Ratchet sighed at himself and rubbed a hand across his helm. "No, Praxus, I wasn't. That threat is just a figure of speech I use when I'm frustrated about something someone has done. I practically never follow through with it. Those two know that."

Praxus glanced towards the junior medics. Both nodded, but First Aid's nod was warmer, his expression more kind and friendly.

"Oh." Praxus said to Ratchet, a self-deprecating smile find its way to his face. "Well, I didn't."

"Now you know." Ratchet said, smiling as he turned to go.

"Hey, can you fix my visor soon?"

"One: that's not how you ask. And, two: realigning your back is more important than hiding your optics."

"My _telltale_ optics." Praxus said, giving Ratchet a heartbreakingly reproachful look. "Pleeeease?"

"No. Your back needs realigned first and foremost." Ratchet said firmly. Then he paused. "But, I'll see if we have a spare visor you can use until I get yours fixed. Okay?"

"Okay!" Praxus seemed to glow with happiness, "_Thank_-you, Ratchet."

Ratchet grumbled at him and went off. He was back in a few minutes with a standard-issue sort of visor.

"It's not high-tech." Ratchet said, "And it won't block the color like yours does, but it will hide the expressions."

"Thank-you, Ratchet!" Praxus said enthusiastically. He reached for the visor with eagerness, but he bit back a cry of pain when he moved his arm too far.

"See, that's pretty bad misalignment." Ratchet said.

Praxus groaned.

"Ratchet…" He said unhappily.

Ratchet said nothing and didn't sigh. He just slipped the visor over Praxus's optics and fitted it against his helm, double-checking to make sure it uplinked. It did.

"There you go." Ratchet said. The visor glowed the purple of Praxus's optics, looking far more appealing and personable than the black visor had.

"Thank-you, Ratchet." Praxus said in quite a praising tone.

"Jolt," Ratchet said, "Help me lay him out flat on the berth so I can do the realignment."

Jolt didn't say a word, but he moved to assist Ratchet. Praxus bit back a number of curses as they moved him, and he gasped with relief when he was finally flat on his face.

Ratchet removed Praxus's back armor, and First Aid ran away, sick to his tank.

"It wasn't that bad-!" Praxus shouted after him, but he knew he wasn't fooling the medic. "Not after I glitched out from the pain." He added in a mumble.

Ratchet gusted cool air through his system and worked to not think about how Praxus's back had gotten as scarred as it was. He would lose it if he thought about that. No wonder Praxus got upset and frightened easily.

The process of realigning Praxus's back went smoothly, Praxus cooperating and lying still. Ratchet had the feeling the young Con was thinking a number swear words, but Praxus uttered not a word. He just growled once and hissed several times like cyber-kitten.

After a bit, Ratchet put aside his realigning tools and took out a scanner. "I think we're done." He told Praxus, "I just want to double-check to make sure."

"He just dropped into recharge." Jolt said.

"Mm. I don't blame him." Ratchet commented, running the scanner. "Okay. We're done. He gets to sleep… _maybe_ he won't have nightmares." He looked regretfully at the recharging mech. "I wish he wouldn't."

"They haven't abated, have they?" It was a clinical interest, not a friendly one.

Ratchet shook his head. "Nope. Still cries and screams every night." He put a thumb to the healing wounds below his optic. "I'm not sure if there's anything we can do." He murmured sadly as he turned to go.

Praxus slept peacefully for a little over an hour, and then he flinched and woke up. Then he grinned because Auri was sitting on the berth beside his, watching him, and her face lit up with delight when she saw his face.

"Praxus!" she exclaimed joyfully, "Your visor-!"

"Um," he ducked his head, "It got broken and Ratchet-"

"It's so pretty!"

"P… pretty?"

"I love how it glows purple like your optics! It's beautiful! Can your own visor do that? It should! Oh, Praxus, you have to make it be purple! You must!"

Praxus cleared his vocal processor uncertainly, feeling highly self-conscious and a bit overwhelmed. Pretty? Beautiful? _His_ purple optic-color?

"Uh… uhm… maybe?" he stammered. Then he smiled shyly at her enthusiasm. Maybe it _was_ pretty.


	20. Chptr 20, Prime's POV & Meeting Ironhide

Hellos… I had this mostly written, and then I got sick with a cold. And I'm still a little sick… mostly just the tiredness and clumsiness is what I have now. So… any typos shall be attributed to that. :)

* * *

Chapter 20

**Prime POV and Meeting Ironhide**

Optimus had been planning his visit to Med-Bay to be a routine one, one where he visited the medics, who always appreciated his support, and was –once again- told by Ratchet that Soundwave wasn't at a point for him to visit yet.

He had been planning to ask about Praxus, how the young mech was doing and if he could meet him. He'd heard bits and pieces from Auri and Bee and a few noncommittal but logical murmurs from Prowl, and he wanted to meet the young mech himself.

He had been thinking that it would go smoothly.

The moment he stepped in the door and heard Praxus laughing, though, he realized that his thoughts had been a little fanciful. Praxus was laughing as he ran from an angry-looking Jolt, and there were something about the laugh that hurt Prime's spark. An uneasy sense of foreboding sprang up, as if disaster was waiting to happen, something told him.

Then First Aid came, shouting "WET FLOOR!" and Prime knew. His optics narrowed on the floor, slick with water. That was part of the bad feeling; his sensors had detected the water on a lower level and warned him it was slick-

Praxus hit the floor and slid.

Prime realized in a second that the Praxian was sliding straight towards him. One of his pedes was on dry floor, so he braced firmly and crouched a little, the latter action lowering his center of gravity.

"Yow-!" Praxus shouted as he slammed into Prime's pede. "Glitching-" Praxus cussed. Then he stopped himself. "No swears." He reminded himself, and Prime repressed a smile. Ratchet had told him that the young mech had a bad mouth; clearly they'd been working on it and making progress.

Prime gazed down at the Decepticon branded Praxian at his pedes with a hint of amusement as said Praxian shifted and moaned. Clearly, the youngling had realized that he'd run into another bot.

"Hell, First Aid, what did you put on the floor?" Maybe they hadn't made a _huge_ amount of progress on the cussing. But some was better than none, Prime thought. Then he felt the Matrix stir uneasily.

Prime glanced over at the silent junior medics, noting their troubled expressions. They were at fault, and they knew it, he realized. And _he_ had caught them at it. Prime knew how much they minded it when Ratchet scolded them, but he knew that one long look of disappointment from him would make them sorry for days. He never meant it to, but they always took it hard.

Praxus was still oblivious to his presence, grinning even. "Oh, it's okay. I won't tell Ratchet I nearly got killed slipping on your wet floor."

Prime watched as First Aid repressed a shudder and disguised it as a swallow, and Prime felt truly bad for him. Prime knew First Aid was thinking of all the things that could go wrong and how they would affect others. He always thought of others feelings first, that medic.

Prime looked down suddenly at Praxus as he felt his spark stir and the Matrix shudder a little. The pain, the huge amount of pain that Praxus felt was immense. Prime wasn't calloused about others' pain, but pain was so common that he was almost used to feeling it among his bots. This pain was so much sharper, though, so much more bitter, and so much more confused. This one needed care. ~'_Be careful, for there is something dangerous about him,_'~ the Matrix whispered. ~'_But, give him loving-kindness, and _that_ will go away._'~

Prime shifted a little without meaning to, and then he found Praxus staring open-mouthed at him, showing a set of little fangs.

Then Praxus was swearing in terror and scuttling away, slipping a bit on the wet floor.

Prime knew not to move. Any motion would frighten Praxus further, and that was the last thing Prime wanted to do. So, he kept still, but he met Praxus's visor with his optics when Praxus stopped to stare up at him.

He saw the young winger recognize him then convulse with fear and roll over, wings shuddering and shaking. Prime felt his spark twist and the Matrix darken with sorrow. The mech was scared sick of him, and while Prime longed to reach out to comfort him, he knew any approach would be seen as a threat.

Praxus suddenly jumped up and bolted for the hallway.

"Praxus-!" First Aid yelled in desperation, and Prime knew the floor was wet there, too. He cringed at the crash that Praxus made when slamming into the wall, and he put a hand over his spark when Praxus hit the floor. His spark cried for him to go look after the Praxian, but he knew that would only cause further terror.

Jolt and First Aid murmured quietly together, their optics wide with fear. They were afraid of Praxus, Prime realized, not afraid _for_ him, that he might have gotten hurt, they were afraid _of_ him; they were afraid of what he might do and might do to them. Both were afraid, but Jolt was almost sick with fear. '_He's seen M-Y's before,_' Prime realized.

First Aid caught his optics then quickly shifted them back to Jolt. He murmured something else, and they both looked over at Praxus. Then First Aid rested his hand on Jolt's shoulder. _I'll go_.

First Aid went over, and Prime felt the junior medic's fear increase. Then he felt the Matrix cringe; something horrible was stirring in Praxus's spark… he couldn't tell what it was, though, not yet, anyway.

He took a few steps towards Praxus to be closer in case First Aid needed help with whatever would ensue.

"Praxus…?" First Aid asked guardedly, crouching beside Praxus, "Are you hurt?"

Praxus didn't answer, and Prime moved closer, keeping behind First Aid although he calculated that Praxus wasn't receiving visual input. He picked up a swirling mess of trauma and terror.

"Can you get up?" First Aid asked.

No answer.

"Praxus?" First Aid asked fearfully.

Then Prime felt it through the Matrix: a fear so poisonous that it would destroy anything to become safe. A fear so potent that it was almost unstoppable,

"No-" Praxus gasped as if fighting for something, "No –don't touch me-" he choked as First Aid reached for him.

First Aid hesitated.

"Don't-" Praxus choked out, shaking.

"It's okay," First Aid reassured him gently, touching his shoulder to comfort him.

Prime flinched as it had the complete opposite effect. Praxus's screams were agonizing and tore through his audios, wrenching his spark.

"NO!" Praxus screamed, "NO!" then he howled for Ratchet like he was being murdered. "RATCHET" he screamed, "RATCHET! RATCHE-"

Prime intercommed Ratchet, 'though he knew First Aid must have as well.

"Ratchet's coming, Ratchet's coming." First Aid tried to reassure Praxus, but he was trembling so hard that his hand shook Praxus.

Praxus snarled like a cornered animal, writhing, and twisted to bite First Aid's hand.

"Ow-!" First Aid gasped weakly, the pain so intense and sudden that he almost couldn't process it. It would fully register in his sensors in a moment, and then it would be excruciating.

Prime quickly and quietly got to the floor and put one hand on First Aid's back and the other on his neck. The medic caught his optics and nodded anxiously. Prime rubbed his hand over First Aid's neck and found the link in to his system. It should have been a sync, but First Aid was in too much pain now to think, so Prime ground his teeth and hacked into First Aid's sensory grid as gently as possibly.

First Aid gasped and panted as his system tried to deal with the pain of Praxus's teeth as well as the pain of the hack. He grabbed behind his back and dug his fingers into Prime's arm.

"Shhh…" Prime soothed. Then he got the hack done and melded into the nervous system. He found the pain relays and took them to be his own. His hand fairly screamed with pain then, as First Aid gasped with slight relief. First Aid loosened his grip on Prime's arm; he could stand the pain now.

"Praxus, please-"

Praxus bit more, and Prime ground his teeth then focused on the peace that logic and the Matrix brought him.

"C'mon, don't bite me," First Aid coaxed weakly, "We're friends, Praxus, remember? –ohPrimushavemercy-" First Aid gasped as a dizzying pain washed through Prime, "Listen, Praxus, Praxus… you played games the other day, scared Mirage –I liked that- that was fun- and Auri loved it –remember Auri? –she's your friend- Ratchet is, too-"

The pain intensified as Praxus bit again.

First Aid continued to work on reasoning with Praxus, continued to try to make the fear-crazed Praxian recognize him or remember at least _something_.

Prime sent him encouragement over the sync. He knew the sync was hurting First Aid because it was a forced one and First Aid had not had the time or focus to accept it. He knew, though, that it was hurting First Aid less than Praxus's teeth would.

"Please don't bite me again, Praxus." First Aid whispered.

Slowly, then the horrible digging pain began to ease, leaving just a brutal rawness that burned. The stabbing pains stopped. Praxus was letting go.

Prime put his helm against First Aid's. _We did it. You did it. You talked him through. _

Then Praxus was vomiting on the floor, choking out First Aid's life-Energon with breakfast.

"Can't see-"Praxus choked out, and while Prime was concerned about the blindness, he felt that for the moment it was best that Praxus saw nothing.

"Your visor's broken," First Aid said weakly. Prime rubbed his back; burning though his hand felt, he knew First Aid needed some tangible support. Aid's hand was… It looked how Prime's felt, torn, mauled, raw, and enflamed.

"I bit you…?" Praxus murmured miserably.

"Yeah." First Aid was going to be sick in a moment if he didn't get it under control. Prime knew the tender-sparked medic was thinking about his, Prime's, physical pain now along with Praxus's emotional pain.

"I didn' mean t-" Praxus started to say, but then Ratchet came in. "Ratchet-!" Praxus cried, and it touched Prime's spark. Praxus knew it was his dear medic without having to see him.

"What-" Ratchet broke off as he came over, "What happened?" he sounded almost angry, but more upset than anything, upset that something had happened to anyone under his care. Then he gasped with horror as he saw First Aid's hand. "First Aid…" his words were barely above a whisper as his optics moved to Prime's pale visage and Prime's hand on first Aid's neck. "Jolt- get- repair kit." He choked out as he carefully removed First Aid's hand from Praxus's shoulder.

Prime felt his system reel a little at the inundation of pain that the movement of First Aid's hand caused. He almost withdrew from the sync reflexively, but he knew that First Aid wouldn't be able to handle it at the moment. Jolt put a steadying hand on him, his shoulder. Jolt had his back.

"I can't see through my broken visor…" Praxus said to Ratchet,

Jolt got between Prime and Praxus, and Prime lowered his helm. Jolt had his front as well, apparently. Good Jolt. Jolt knew Praxus couldn't be allowed to catch sight of him, even if Ratchet didn't know. Ratchet was removing the visor from Praxus's optics.

Prime knew when Praxus saw again, for the Matrix let him feel Praxus's sense of devastation. It was absolute devastation at having harmed one he considered an ally. The Matrix didn't always let him sense others' feelings; only sometimes did he receive insight. This glimpse told him, though, that Praxus was not a hostile. Praxus didn't _want_ to harm. –Not anymore, anyways.

"First Aid-!" Praxus cried,

"Sh-sh," Ratchet hushed him. "He'll be alright. Come on up. We need to get you on a berth."

Once Ratchet had helped Praxus up and started helping him towards a berth with his back toward Prime, Jolt moved over to First Aid and injected a strong dose of painkillers into his system.

Prime actually sighed in relief when the painkillers activated. His hand felt numb, which felt odd, but the absence of acute pain felt good. He knew he could unsync from First Aid now, so he did. First Aid swayed then, weakened by the combination of physical damage, psychological stress, and the residual pain from Prime's hack. Prime guided First Aid's helm to rest on his shoulder, and First Aid rested against him heavily.

Ratchet was back in a few moments, though, and picked First Aid up with a protective look and took the first-aid kit from Jolt. Prime watched as Ratchet carried his junior to the berth beside Praxus's berth and laid him down gently.

"Prime," Jolt said quietly, "Is there anything I can do for you?" his optics weren't like they usually were. They were darker, more troubled, and tinged with fear. –Not fear of Prime, the Matrix reassured Prime, but fear of Praxus and Praxus's kind.

Prime shook his head gently. "No. But, thank-you. My hand feels a little tingly, but otherwise I am fine. I stopped by to visit, but I think my timing was _not_ impeccable."

"No, sir," Jolt agreed with a forced half-smile. Praxus weighed too heavily on Jolt's spark for him to be amused.

"Is there anything I could do for _you_?" Prime asked Jolt. He always made sure to ask that when any of his bot were troubled or stressed, and he always meant it. And they knew that. Jolt knew it.

Jolt shook his head after a moment. "No. Thank-you, though."

"You are welcome." Prime said gently. He paused. He usually talked with his medics when he visited them, but he sensed that Jolt didn't feel like talking, so he simply gave Jolt's shoulder a gentle rub, reassuring him of his support. "Thank-you for having my back –and my front- back there." He said.

Jolt nodded. "You're welcome." He said a little shakily. Prime realized then how much nerve Jolt had had to summon up to get that close to Praxus, and how horrifying the incident must have been for him.

Ratchet came over a couple moments later. "I'm not entirely sure what to say." He said. "First Aid told me what happened." He added, his tone softening with sorrow.

"I am sorry." Prime said.

"You're hardly to fault for showing up, Optimus." Ratchet chided. "You had no idea."

"I should have intercommed or called first."

Ratchet opened his mouth. Then he shut it with a grim smile. "True." He said. "Alright. Do that next time. So, was this _just_ supposed to be a social visit, or have you misaligned or torn something?"

"_Just_ a social visit." Prime said, letting a bit of a smile touch his face. "How are things? –Unofficially."

Ratchet filled him in then about Soundwave's improvement and updated him on Praxus's mischief around Med-Bay, also including Mirage's attempts to flirt with or otherwise hit on Auri. Prime listened, knowing how much it helped Ratchet to be able to talk about what was going on rather than just typing it out in a report. He listened, but he also kept his spark partially attuned to Praxus with the allowance of the Matrix.

Prime felt another fear arise in Praxus presently; this time it was a fear of punishment, a miserable fear of excruciating and merciless, brutal punishment. It tugged Prime's spark and twisted it, along with the haunting thought of what Praxus had been through to make him so fearful.

"Optimus?" Ratchet asked, looking at him with concern and curiosity.

Prime realized then that he'd stopped paying attention to Ratchet. "I apologize for not attending." He murmured. He looked over towards Praxus, "I…"

"No…!" Praxus whimpered, and First Aid shifted to get up.

Ratchet looked over towards Praxus as well. "The Matrix say much about him?" he asked, watching as First Aid got up and sat by Praxus.

"A little." Prime said softly, "It says to be careful with him. And that love, loving-kindness, will remove the dangerousness that is in him."

Ratchet intook a little air sharply as First Aid reached a hand for Praxus's back. "He's gonna-"

Prime put a hand on Ratchet's arm to keep him from rushing over to stop First Aid. "I _think_ he knows what he's doing this time."

"Well, if he gets himself bit a third time, I will not be very sympathetic." Ratchet said with huff. "He should know by now-" he broke off and stared in wonder as First Aid put his hand on Praxus's back and didn't get bitten. "Well… pinch me."

Prime smiled gently. "Loving-kindness, Ratchet."

"But that's what First Aid meant the last times he touched Praxus and got bitten." Ratchet said, looking a little perplexed.

"Praxus didn't know it then. He knows it now. First Aid told him that they were friends. I think that makes a great difference."

Ratchet reflected on that a moment. Then he nodded. "I think you've got something there." He said, and that made Prime smile.

"I do." He said. "And you have a Med-Bay to take care of, so I will leave you to it."

OoOoOoOoO

(Day twenty after Soundwave's arrival; seven after Praxus's)

Ratchet wandered into the main room of his Med-Bay groggily. He needed his morning Energon badly. He was not a morning bot, and staying up for hours each night with a sobbing, screaming nightmare-tortured Praxian hadn't helped matters much.

He groped for the cupboard and got it open. Get cube. Drink.

Better.

He drank a little more Energon and felt himself awaken a bit. Much better. He turned around, ready to face the day.

Then he gasped in shocked, choked on his Energon, and spit it out. His optics widened.

Almost every spare berth in the main room was covered with guns, cannons, and pistols. And Praxus was standing in the midst of it all, patiently awaiting Ratchet's attention with a sleek rifle in his hands.

Ratchet swallowed. This was not his preferred way of starting a morning.

"Hi!" Praxus said with a chipper tone, hiding his sudden anxiety.

"Hi." Ratchet said, moving slowly towards one of the berths. "What… what's all this?"

"Well." Praxus looked down at the rifle in his hands and rubbed his thumb over it. "These are all my firearms."

Ratchet looked around. Not as many as Ironhide or Chromia or some of the other bots had, but it was an awful lot for a youngish Praxian.

"Or, I should say, _were_ all my firearms. I am surrendering most of them to the Autobots weapons division or whatever/whoever oversees the weapons. I would like to keep some –if that is permissible, but the rest I do not want or need."

Ratchet stared. "You're… giving up your weapons of your own free will?"

"I'm giving up _most_ of my _firearms._" Praxus corrected softly. "I'm not giving up my swords and knives. A neutral has to have _some_ protection. But, yes, it is of my own free will."

Ratchet touched one of the cannons. "That's… that's quite a gesture of trust." He said quietly.

Praxus nodded soberly. "I trust you, Ratchet."

Ratchet looked at the young mech with a hint of a soft smile. "I'm honored." He said.

A sad smile turned Praxus's mouth. "Please…" he said softly, "Please don't… please d-don't make me regret it?"

That was spark-wrenching. Ratchet put down his Energon cube and went over to the young ex-Con.

Praxus put his rifle down and braced a little, lowering his helm and wings.

Ratchet almost hugged him, but he realized that Praxus wouldn't welcome so much contact.

"You listen." He told Praxus gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. "As long as you do your best to behave well, I won't make you regret anything. Got that?"

Praxus smiled sheepishly. "Yes, sir." He said. "I… I know that. Just… I… I've barely been here a week. I still get afraid."

"It's alright." Ratchet rubbed his arm. Then he went back to get his Energon. "I take it you've already had breakfast?"

"Uh-huh." Praxus said.

Ratchet took a sip as he looked around at all the firearms. He swallowed. "So," he said, "Which ones are you wanting to keep?"

Praxus motioned to the two berths nearest himself. "Just these ones."

"Ah."

"The rest…" Praxus swept his optics over them slowly, "I surrender."

Ratchet watched him as he stood there. Praxus, he realized, was giving up part of himself. Praxus was surrendering history and memories, perhaps even comrades. He was surrendering power. An unconditional surrender at that.

Praxus lowered his helm. "I also have a number of data-pads with… sensitive information." He stopped and bit his lip. "That… I… am… w-w-willingl-ly-" he broke off as he began to tremble. "Ratchet, I'm so scared!"

"It's a huge step, Praxus." Ratchet said gently, "You're turning against your faction, giving its enemy information and tools to hurt it, and giving it reason to want to hurt you. –in worse ways than it already has. You have every right in the galaxy to be scared."

Praxus laughed uneasily. "That's not comforting."

"No, that isn't." Ratchet said, "But I hope this is: I'll have your back, watch out for you, take care of you. -So will Auri, as much as she can. And First Aid as he can. And by and by, the other Autobots will accept you. It will probably be a rough battle, but when you win their friendship, it will be rewarding."

Praxus grinned shyly. "Thanks, Ratchet." He said, lowering his helm.

"You're welcome." Ratchet said gruffly, accepting Praxus's thanks for once instead of brushing them away.

Ratchet resumed his breakfast then, and Praxus went back to rechecking the log he'd made of the firearms.

"I've listed all of them." He said to Ratchet, "Full names in both Cy-Stan and Con-Stan. I know the info for most of them, along with when and where I got each, and which ones I used where… I also know who else in my gang had ones like them. It would take me forever to write that all down in Cy-Stan, though. If you think it's painful listening to me trying to read Cy-Stan, you don't even want to see me trying to write it."

"I'm sure Ironhide would enjoy listening and would write it down for you." Ratchet said, "He'd like that. They're going to him, anyway. He's the weapons specialist, you know."

"I know he is." Praxus looked frightened, "Auri's told me. I… I didn't know they were going to him, though."

"Prax… you've got to trust bots just a little. At least meet the mech once."

Praxus didn't say anything.

"Y'hear me?"

"I hear you, Ratchet." He murmured.

"Look, he'd not gonna kill you, and unless you do something bad, he's not even gonna hurt you. He's Auri's guardian, honestly; he's a defender and protector, not an enraged demolition-bot."

Praxus looked up and sideways at Ratchet, his mouth pursed questioningly.

"You're thinking like a Decepticon." Ratchet told him. "They all fear Ironhide because he's defending and protecting his Bots. He is a fierce defender and protector, so he _is_ very, _very_ rough on Cons, but he wouldn't be if they didn't give him reason. Don't give him reason to hurt you, and he won't hurt you."

"Okay, Ratchet. Whatever you say." He acquiesced.

A few minutes passed.

"How's your back feeling?" Ratchet asked as he remembered yesterday.

"A little sore." Praxus said with a shrug. "Not really worth complaining out, though, unless I twist or bend."

"Okay." That was normal. "Just be careful how you move today and take care not to reinjure it."

"Yes, sir." Praxus said. "Ratchet, did First Aid and Jolt talk to you about the M-Y program and their solutions for counteracting it?"

Ratchet looked guarded. They had, and they'd also told him how angry Praxus had gotten at Jolt for suggesting a glitch-out. That was bad news, for Ratchet knew he would have to install the glitch-out whether Praxus liked it or not. "They did." He said.

"Good. I wish you to upload Jolt's solution to my programming."

Ratchet swallowed his Energon carefully to keep from choking on it in amazement. "Do you?"

Praxus looked grim. "Yes, I do. I guess they told you that I got mad at Jolt yesterday for suggesting it. I've had time to think about it, though. Whatever might happen to me at the Autobots' hands if I glitched out would be far less damaging than what I would do to them if I _didn't_ glitch out."

Ratchet listened, hearing the calm logic in Praxus's tone. He had to have given a great deal of thought to the decision, and the result was a steady readiness and firm resolve, an unyielding determination.

"Do you hear me, Ratchet?" There was that quiet commanding tone again.

"I hear, and I am relieved to hear your words." Ratchet said, optics narrowing a little. "But, I must remind you again, though, that you are not to use that tone with me."

Praxus ducked his head quickly and lowered his wings. "My apologies." He murmured, "You are in charge and I have no business using that tone. I'm earnest about this, though, Ratchet," he added pleadingly. "Please?"

"I know." Ratchet said more gently, "I know. I'll program and upload the glitch-out for you. We can do that now."

"Thank-you, Ratchet." Praxus said humbly, lowering his wings and helm to match his tone.

Ratchet told Praxus to go to the scanner room then heaved a silent sigh of relief as he watched the young Con go. He was glad that Praxus had come to the decision himself and wasn't going to fight the glitch-out program installation. That would make things a whole lot easier.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Ironhide paused with amazement when he stepped inside Med-Bay's main room. Ratchet had intercommed and said that he had something to show him, but he'd not been expecting _this_… this array of so many beautiful firearms.

He glanced around for Ratchet, but he found Praxus and Auri instead. They were on the couch, Praxus sitting with a sleeping Auri in his arms, her head cradled tenderly on his chest. His optics were hidden by a gently glowing purple visor, but his expression and manner both conveyed fear and compassion, along with awe and reverence. His wings… there was something about the set of his wings that reminded Ironhide of a much younger Prowl when he'd been severely scolded.

Ironhide watched the younglings, unmoving though they were. Well, Auri's wings rose and fell a little as they did when she was sleeping securely. Ironhide cocked his head curiously. Auri felt secure with Praxus, did she? He found that remarkable.

He paused. He didn't want to disturb them. –Especially since Praxus had quick reflexes when startled. Auri had told him how quickly Praxus responded to threats. And Optimus had told him about yesterday and the biting. Ironhide didn't wish to startle Praxus into some action against Auri.

Ironhide turned to leave, but that caught Praxus's attention.

Praxus hissed softly. Ironhide looked back at him. The Praxian's mouth was partly open with fear now, and his wings were lifted up, flaring in a protective and frightened gesture.

Ironhide shifted his body away from facing Praxus directly so he wouldn't seem to be confronting him. "I just stopped by to see Ratchet." He said, keeping his optics off the winger, looking around for the not-present medic. There was nobody with the two Praxians –despite the fact that they'd been told that they had to have supervision.

"He…" Praxus said quietly, "He will be back shortly, he s-said, sir."

"Ah-alright." Ironhide said, sounding complacent despite being quite tense. "I'll wait around." He kept his gaze easy, but he'd noted that Praxus's hand on Auri's side was trembling a little. He wanted to focus on Praxus's wings and see if they were trembling as well, but he knew from Prowl that that would be an unsettling if not threatening move for him to make if he made it obviously.

He glanced around the berths of weapons. "A nice collection." He commented, slipping his optics back to Praxus casually. Praxus hadn't moved, but his wings were trembling just a little. "Yours?" he asked with a slight inclination of his helm.

"Yes, sir." Praxus answered quietly, volunteering nothing else.

Ironhide paused. "Chromia said you landed pretty hard when you climbed the wall to escape me yesterday. Not hurt from that, are you?"

Praxus shook his head quickly. "No, sir."

"Good." Ironhide said, moving over to look a little more closely at one of the cannons. He studied it without touching it then he looked back at Praxus. "This is a nice one." He said.

Praxus nodded. "Yes, sir."

Ironhide paused, a little bothered by the two-word answers. "What else can you say, Praxus?" he asked.

Praxus hesitated. "I'm sorry, sir. Perhaps, sir. As you please, sir."

Ironhide paused again, a confused half-smile on his face this time. Was Praxus serious? Auri had said that he was marvelously hilarious when he wanted to be. This response here had been comical in a way, but Praxus's face was a mask.

"I meant no disrespect, sir." Praxus added, seeing the speculative look on the big mech's face.

"Well, that's good. This isn't a very stimulating conversation, though."

The wings shuddered. "I'm sorry, sir. I… I am n-not much given to conversation."

"With who?" Ironhide asked gently, "Auri tells me that the two of you talk for hours."

Praxus lowered his helm a little. "She talks, sir; I comment." He said softly.

"Praxus," Ironhide said gently. He took a few steps towards the wingers. "I'm not out to get you, mech-ling. You've got to cross me before that happens, and you haven't crossed me. Understood?"

"Understood, sir." Praxus said softly, helm still down. Ironhide saw his arm tighten around Auri a little then loosen.

"She likes you." Ironhide said, venturing a little closer.

The corner of Praxus's lip dug down into his cheek a little. "She is nice, sir."

"And are you?" Ironhide asked softly. He was fairly close now.

Praxus lowered his helm a little more and his grip on Auri tightened. His chest heaved a little. "I try." He choked out. "Sir."

"Trying's good." Ironhide said with a nod. He took another step slowly then lowered himself onto the couch, Auri between him and Praxus. "You don't want to squeeze her too hard, though." He added softly, working to keep from reaching out and pulling Praxus's arm away from his little femlette.

Praxus bit back a keen and loosened his grip on the femme-ling.

"Is she alright?" Ironhide asked, concern starting to rise.

"She got upset earlier and cried herself to sleep." Praxus sounded broken.

"That happens." Ironhide said, reaching over and brushing a finger against the lower edge of Auri's wing. "Still has a few sparkling tendencies." He marveled at how much self-control he actually had.

Praxus nodded.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" Ironhide kept his tone open, inviting.

Praxus kept his helm down and hesitated but then he shifted a wing a tiny bit. "I got a beating." He said quietly, "And that upset her."

"'Beating' is a rather harsh term."

"Twenty-six." Praxus said calmly, "In the other room. I believe that constitutes a beating."

"Mmmnh." That was pretty severe by Ratchet's standards but mild by Cons'. "What _did_ you do?"

"I would not let Ratchet swat her for cussing." Praxus said quietly, "I grabbed her and held her back from him and ordered him to let her be and punish me instead. I would not let go until he agreed to comply. I…" he faltered and hid his face against the femme-ling's helm. "I am afraid I bruised her arms a little, sir, but I did not mean to."

Ironhide found himself at a loss for words.

Praxus went on. "Ratchet said the swats she would get would upset her far less than the ones I would get, but I guess I was not listening. It was my fault anyway for cussing around her. I did not mean to do that either, but now and then some words would slip out. She always responded with sharp disapproval, but I guess the words got caught in her processor and she thought about them. Ratchet _warned_ me about her and words when I first came. I am sorry, sir. I am very sorry."

"I can tell that." Ironhide said gently. "It's alright." He reached around Auri to touch Praxus's shoulder, but the young mech cringed and shuddered. Ironhide drew his hand back. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Praxus." He reassured him.

"B-but, I bruised Auri, sir."

"Ratchet tended you for that." Ironhide pointed out. "All is cleared now. You didn't intend to hurt My-Auri, anyway."

"I did not intend to, sir." Praxus confirmed, face still hidden.

"And you're not planning to do it again."

"NO, sir." Praxus said emphatically. "Never. And the beating had little to do with that; it is how much it upset Auri. I do not want that again."

Ironhide studied and considered Praxus, hidden as his face was.

"Let's see your optics, mech-ling." He said.

Praxus sighed with resignation and lifted his head, brushing his cheek with a hand as he did so. Then he disengaged the visor, revealing his optics, a little damp.

Ironhide studied him well then, and Praxus held his gaze as steadily as he could. Then he lowered his optics when a bit of a smile touched Ironhide's expression.

"I think you're probably alright." Ironhide said with a half-nod of approval.

The corner of Praxus's mouth halfway turned up. "Thank-you, sir."

"You're overdoing the 'sir' a bit much, mech-ling." Ironhide said, choosing to be amused by it rather than annoyed.

"M… my apologies?"

"Yes, sir. No, sir. Understood, sir. Those are fine, but much beyond that, it bothers me a little. Okay?"

"Yes, sir."

"And if I say 'okay?' then you answer with 'okay.' Okay?"

Praxus paused, fearing a trap. "Okay."

Ironhide smiled at the confused looked on Praxus's face. "I'm informal. You'll catch on."

"Hopefully, sir- Ah! aw..." He hid his face against Auri's helm and sighed at his obvious failure.

Ironhide surprised him by chuckling. "It's okay." He said.

Praxus shuddered.

Ironhide got up, sensing that the Praxian Con needed a little space from him. He moved a little ways off then paused. "Do you think Ratchet was fair?"

"It is not my place to say what I think about a senior officer's decisions, s-." Praxus bit off the 'sir' quickly.

"Hypothetically, if it was your place, what would you say?" Ironhide asked.

Praxus looked grim. "He was lenient." He said sternly. "He had warned me a number of times not to use an ordering or commanding tone of voice with him, and I did that severely. I disobeyed him extensively, verbally fought him, and forced his hand by using Auri as a hostage. And I scared Auri by grabbing her, hurt her by holding her too closely. I violated her trust and terrified her to manipulate Ratchet. It was horribly wrong of me. I _should_ have been beaten unconscious for what I did."

Ironhide's optics widened at Praxus's last sentence. That, he thought, was pretty harsh. But… he reminded himself, Praxus was coming from the Decepticons where even small offenses were severely punished. He said nothing, uncertain regarding what he should reply.

He wandered over and looked at the weapons. He started to reach for one to examine it more closely, but he stopped himself.

"Mind if I touch? Take a closer look?" he asked Praxus.

Praxus hesitated. Then he gently and gingerly disengaged from holding Auri, settling her on the couch pillows with infinite tenderness as he got up. He flinched when he took a step towards Ironhide, but he steadied himself and walked over carefully, betraying only a little of his fear.

"These," he said, looking across the berth at Ironhide, "I would rather you not. And those as well," he motioned to the next berth. "But, the others, I am surrendering to… oh." he stopped sheepishly as he realized something. "I am surrendering them to _you_ since you are the weapons specialist." He said with a hint of a smile.

Ironhide paused at that sunk in. Then he grinned. "You'll have to tell me about them." He said, optics dancing with delight as he sidestepped to the berth of guns that he _could_ touch.

Praxus nodded, making a note to tell Ratchet that saying Ironhide would "like" hearing about the firearms was a ridiculous understatement. Ironhide was practically ecstatic.

"Ooooh! This one!"

Praxus turned and found that Ironhide had picked up one of the heavier, stockier canons and was grinning with unrestrained delight as he ran his fingers over it, murmuring the stats and details of the weapon, his optics consuming it.

Praxus raised an optic-ridge. That… that was a little scary to him.

Ratchet stalked in. "Do you two need a room?"

Ironhide chuckled. "I have been dying to get my hands on one of these since-"

"Yeah-yeah-yeah. I'm sure." Ratchet was in no mood to hear about it.

"What are you so fra-glitchety cross about?" Ironhide asked in amazement.

Praxus blinked.

Then, "IRONHIDE!" Ratchet roared.

"Run!" Auri squeaked, sitting up with a start. Then she looked completely disorientated.

Ratchet began ranting at Ironhide about how much trouble it was trying to keep the younglings from using bad words and that he was no help at all.

Ironhide ducked a wrench that was hurled at him. "Ratch-"

Ratchet yelled at him some more.

Auri quickly took refuge behind the couch, and Praxus joined her there with no hesitation.

"What happened?" she asked in a shocked whisper as they lay on their bellies.

Praxus filled her in, whispering as well.

"Oh…" Auri whispered when he was done. "Guess we'll just have to lay low until he's done."

"No kidding."

"Oh, dear. Now Ironhide's starting to yell."

"I can't tell what they're yelling about now."

"Me neither. They slip into their home dialects when they get really mad, and I can't follow them. Chromia's the worst when it comes to enraged yelling, though. Even Ironhide can't follow what she says sometimes, and he'd been bonded to her for ages."

"Yikes."

"And she uses hand gestures, too. Ironhide said not to watch if she starts doing that. Apparently most of them are pretty rude."

"You shouldn't giggle about that."

"No, no. I shouldn't. I was mostly giggling about looks I've seen on Ironhide's face. Eeep!"

"The wrench was close."

"I thought it was going land back here and hit me."

"Yeah." Praxus whispered darkly. "Here," he scooted around and nudged her so that she was closest to the couch and partially under it. Then he wriggled close. "A little safer now." He whispered.

She raised an optic-ridge. "From wrenches maybe." She said, her face a mere hand-span from his.

"What…? Oh! Dirty-minded little femme!"

"It only crossed my processor because we're lying squished together. I wouldn't think it otherwise."

"Well, don't think it at all." He ordered.

"I won't, Praxus." She giggled, "This isn't a 'romantic' situation, anyway."

"Change the subject."

"Are _all_ those guns yours?"

"They were. But I've surrendered most of them over to Ironhide since he's weapons specialist. I'm keeping a few that I like best, but the rest I don't need or want."

"Aw..."

"Yeah. Oh, but I have a few that I'm going to give to you."

"Give to me? Why?"

"'Cause you need some nice weapons."

"I do have _some_ weapons, you know."

"You need more. Don't argue, femme-lette. You'll like them when you see them."

"Well, oka-"

"SILENCE!" Prowl roared, making both Auri and Praxus twitch. Praxus wrapped an arm around Auri protectively.

Ratchet roared back. "DON'T YOU YELL ME, PROWLCAR! YOU GO HIDE BEHIND THE COUCH WITH THE OTHER PRAXIANS!"

"Eep!" Auri squeaked. "Quickly, Prax, we have to move. Prowl will be mad if he finds us lying like this."

Praxus moved. He and Auri curled up each into protective little balls. "You sure he'll be back here?"

"Yes."

"He's arguing with Ratchet."

"He won't for long."

A couple seconds later, Prowl was taking refuge beside Auri.

"Are you alright?" he asked her in a whisper.

"Just fine." She whispered back.

"Aigh!" Praxus whimpered. "Ratchet's throwing my guns at Ironhide! _My_ guns-!"

"He must have run out of wrenches." Prowl deduced.

"Prowl! We have to stop him!" Auri begged.

"How, Aurion? I tried reasoning. The only other way would be to stun-gun them both, and you _know_ they would retaliate once they woke up. Probably on our behinds."

"Um… we have to make a scene ourselves." Auri said suddenly. "Yes."

"Bad idea… but… but… go on."

"You tackle Praxus, and I'll scream gory-murder. That will get their attention."

"Very bad idea!" Praxus whispered frantically.

"Yes. It is a bad idea." Prowl said, "But it will work."

Praxus looked distressed.

"And then Ratchet will quit throwing your guns at Ironhide." Auri told him reassuringly.

"Okay." Praxus acquiesced reluctantly. He shot Prowl an uneasy look, though. He knew Prowl didn't like him.

"Ready?" Auri asked, "Be gentle, though, Prowl. Ratchet whopped him badly not too long ago." She hadn't been told about Praxus's back misalignment of yesterday.

Prowl moved over closer to Praxus. "Ready." he whispered, optics narrowing on Praxus. Praxus shivered.

"Go."

Auri squealed, and Prowl tackled Praxus, flattening him face-down on the floor. Auri shrieked.

Praxus flinched and elbowed Prowl reflexively, and Prowl did _not_ take kindly to that. He jammed a knee into the back of Praxus's thigh. Hitting a raw place.

Praxus snarled then; suddenly writhing, he twisted around and sank his fangs into Prowl's arm and tore then bit his hand. Prowl screeched in pain.

Auri screamed in absolute horror.

Then Praxus glitched out.

Prowl stared at his hand as the life-Energon oozed from it.

"It _was_ a _very_ bad idea." Auri whispered, tears filling her optics.

Prowl nodded mutely then looked up as he heard Ironhide and Ratchet running over.

"I'll do the talking." Auri whispered. Prowl nodded again.

Ironhide and Ratchet came around. "What happened?!" Ratchet demanded.

"Awwww-it'sall-myfault!" Auri wailed, throwing herself into his arms and bawling on his shoulder. "I just wanted you two to stop so I told Prowl we had to make a scene!"

"Aw, sh-sh." Ratchet stoked her back gently, "Calm down, calm down. It's okay."

"I told him to tackle Prax so it would look like they were fighting, and I would scream, and then you two would come to intervene. But Praxus freaked out and bit Prowl." She sobbed. "And then he glitched out!" she wailed.

"You crazy little wingers." Ratchet said gently. He tenderly lifted Auri into his arms and picked her up. "What lengths you go to. It's okay now. Ironhide and I are done yelling at each other."

Prowl rose, stony-faced. "I _hope_ he is up-to-date on his rabies shots." He bit out, glaring at Ratchet.

"He's fine, Prowl." Ratchet reassured him. "I'll bind that up for you."

"_Don't_ touch me." Prowl flicked his wings hostilely. He was furious with himself and didn't want to be around others.

"You just want to stand there and drip life-En on my floor?"

"I will bind it myself." Prowl walked off.

Ratchet and Ironhide met optics. "You really made him mad." Ironhide said, _almost_ sounding amused.

Anything Ratchet _might_ have said was cut off by Praxus's groan. "That. Hurt."

"Just be glad you didn't try to bit his helm." Ironhide said, "He's so hardheaded that you would have hurt your mouth."

"Not funny." Ratchet told Ironhide.

Praxus groaned, and Ironhide offered him a hand to help get up. Praxus studied the hand for a couple moments then slipped his into it. Ironhide's grasp was firm and reassuring, but not threatening. Praxus looked up at him. "Thank-you, s… so, what did I miss?"

"Auri did a nice little drama act." Ironhide said dryly. He gave Auri a fond gentle look, though. "And Prowl expressed his hopes that you weren't carrying any contagious distempering diseases."

Prowl shot him a dark look from where he was washing his arm.

"And he declined Ratchet's aid with a good bit of malice." Ironhide added, seeing Praxus's look of concern.

"Oh."

"He'll get over it." Ironhide said complacently. Then he saw Soundwave. The big blue Con was standing in the hall doorway. Praxus saw him, too.

Praxus gasped, his optics widening in terror as he stared at Soundwave. Then, suddenly, "You need a new paint job." He quipped. Then he bolted for the courtyard before anyone could respond.


	21. Chapter 21, More of the Past

Hello! I'm back in college now! First day! My first class was awesomeness. I have the coolest teacher, and the class is on J. R. R. Tolkien and his writings. X) And I'll be heading to a creative writing class pretty soon! XD So exciting.

Grab the tissues when Praxus goes to Jolt at lunchtime… I nearly made myself cry.

* * *

Chapter 21

**More of the Past **

In the courtyard, Praxus dashed for the wall, scrambled over, and dropped quickly to the sidewalk on the other side. Then he ran. Hopefully everybody would be so astonished by his ridiculous and flippant remark to Soundwave that they would stand still in confusion for a couple seconds. Those few seconds would give him the lead he needed, and he only needed a little lead, for he was fast.

He dodged an oncoming car and vaulted over a tank. He then realized that everybody traveled on the _right_ side of the road as opposed to the left and kept to the right side of the road as he ran.

He quickly ducked, dodging a strange pole that held a series of colored lights on it in the middle of an intersection. He would find out what that was later –if he lived. He cut a corner and bent a stop-sign in the process without meaning to.

He realized that he had no idea where he was going, but he decided to face that problem once he was a little farther away from Med-Bay. They _would_ send someone after him, but he was pretty sure he could elude whomever for at least-

"NGH!" he was dazed for a couple moments, and then he found himself lying face-down on the pavement with a couple thousand pounds of Autobot sitting on his back.

"Hey, nice tackle, 'Lita." Chromia's voice said. She sounded like she was grinning.

Praxus looked up weakly, feeling rather bruised in pride and body. She _was_ grinning.

Chromia crouched down near his head. "Hey," she greeted, "What's the big rush, sweet-cheeks?"

"I-I panicked- w-when I saw Soundwave. And ran." He managed to say. He was panting hard, his system out of shape.

"Ah. Well, here comes Prowl."

Praxus groaned. He hoped Prowl wouldn't do anything too awful to him. Maybe he wouldn't with two femmes as witnesses.

"He _was_ running, but he's slowed to a stop now. He's gotta assess the situation." Chromia said.

"He is probably waiting to see what we are going to do." _Lita_ said. Her voice was so beautiful that Praxus thought he was going to glitch out from the sheer gorgeousness of it.

He twisted to peer at the femme with the gorgeous voice. Then a sense of horror slowly stole over him as his optics found her face and helm… he realized that "Lita" was a nickname. Elita-One, Femme Commander, Communications Officer, Spark-Mate of the Prime.

He dropped his face on the pavement. He was _so_ going to die.

"Ooch, Praxus, don't do that." Chromia said, "Gives me a helm-ache to see you do that. Here, Elita, let him up. Praxy, don't try running or she'll tackle you again."

Elita chuckled softly as she got off Praxus. "I believe _some_ mechs would try running just for that."

Chromia chortled with laughter. Praxus felt confused.

"Here," Elita offered him a friendly hand, "I hope that did not hurt too much." She said. He blinked, staring first at her frightfully blue optics then at her proffered hand. She meant him to touch her hand? He tensed up, afraid of her. He felt himself wanting to edge away from her. He pushed the pavement with his hands a little and shifted his weight so he could get to his knees and back away.

"Hey," Chromia said, "That's not polite, Charmer. If a femme offers to help you up, you let her help you up. It's called 'manners,' sweet-spark."

Praxus shifted his optics back to Elita's face. He studied it, taking in her expression carefully. Compassion. Fairness. Firmness. Gentleness. He paused. How could someone be firm _and_ gentle? Then he realized that Ratchet was both firm and gentle.

"I promise I won't pinch." Elita said, her optics warming with a little good humor. "Come on." She beckoned with her fingers a little.

Praxus hesitated with fear, but then, keeping one hand firmly on the ground, he put his other hand in hers. Her hand was warm, strong, and it felt reassuring as it lightly gripped his. She helped him up then let go without hurting him.

"Thank-you," Praxus murmured, looking down with uncertainty.

"You are welcome. It is only right since I knocked you down in the first place." She said. Praxus missed her smile.

"Ah-!" Praxus yelped and jumped when Chromia's hand touched his back.

"Hold still." Chromia said, "Gotta get the pink smudges off."

Praxus stood stock still, completely stiff and uneasy. Chromia didn't seem to notice his fear, though. She complacently rubbed sections of his back firmly with a cloth to get Elita's paint off him. After a moment, Praxus began to realize that Chromia wasn't going to hurt him. He eased up his stance but remained braced a little and tucked his head. His wings started to relax without him meaning them to. It felt so, so good, so wonderfully good to get a backrub… regardless of the circumstances. He closed his optics and soaked in the bliss of it.

"That should do it." Chromia said all too soon, flicking him lightly with the cloth. "And Prowl's decided to come over now."

Praxus reluctantly opened his optics. Indeed, Prowl was coming over, looking quite grim.

"Hey, mech." Chromia greeted him when he was near.

"Hello, Chromia." He said, "Elita-One, thank-you for apprehending Praxus for me."

Elita bowed her helm to him a little in acknowledgement. "My duty." She said.

"Praxus," Prowl said, his tone changing a little. It became more authoritative and clipped. "You are under arrest for the following offences: _biting_ a commanding officer, fleeing the scene of offence, exiting Med-Bay without permission or clearance, running in a no-running zone, running on the wrong side of the road, touching a moving vehicle without proper authorization from its driver, touching a moving vehicle without notifying the driver beforehand, failing to yield right-of-way to a tank, failing to obey traffic signals, not yielding at the stop-light, damaging a stop-sign, repeatedly ignoring stop-signs, traveling the wrong way on a one-way street, failing to check for human-pedestrians before crossing the road, disregarding-"

"Prowl." Chromia said flatly, looking bored.

Prowl paused and looked at her.

"We don't need the whole list. We get the point."

Prowl eyed Praxus. "And other offences." He said with a final tone. "Silence is your right. However, if you chose to speak, any condemning words can and _will_ be used against you. Turn and put your hands behind your back."

It clicked in Praxus's processor, then, that Prowl didn't have a law-enforcement earth-vehicle paint-job because it looked cool; he had it because he was law-enforcement. _Enforcer…_ Praxus realized. He remembered, then, what he'd read in the files about Prowl. Prowl had been an Enforcer before he'd gotten into the war.

"Right now." Prowl's order had a warning tone.

Praxus turned quickly then, putting his hands behind his back. Prowl snapped the cuffs on his wrists.

"I will escort you to the brig." Prowl said.

Praxus felt a wave of terror wash over him. "N-! C-Chromia! Please don't let him take me to the brig!" he begged.

Chromia looked startled, surprised that he would appeal to her (of all femmes). She felt touched by the action, but she didn't show it. She simply smiled dryly.

"Sorry, Cute-Stuff," she said, "But if Prowl deems you bad enough to remove from _Ratchet's_ care –particularly if you've _not_ been cleared to leave Med-Bay, then there's not really anything I can say to dissuade him from taking you away."

Behind him, Praxus heard Prowl hiss quietly. "I forgot about that." Prowl said stiffly. "I will not be escorting you to the brig, Praxus. I will be escorting you back to Med-Bay, where I will lock you in the security cell."

Praxus nodded, not sure if he should verbally acknowledge that or not.

"Tell me thank-you, Prowl." Chromia said, smirking "Ratchet would have been awful mad at you if you'd drug his patient off."

Praxus stared at her in shock. She was… so… so… _flippant! to Prowl!_

"Thank-you, Chromia." Prowl said graciously, "For pointing out an oversight I made. You have saved me a great deal of time and trouble."

"Awwww, it's no problem." Chromia said, grinning with satisfaction. "Bye, Prowler-Cop." Her optics twinkled, "See yah, Praxcrycan." She said to Praxus. "Try to keep outta trouble until then," she added with a smirk, "And quit hoppin' that wall. Ratch'll get mad." Then she headed off.

Elita paused, raising an optic-ridge at Chromia. Then she met Prowl's optics, and there seemed to be some nonverbal communication between femme-commander and Enforcer.

"I hope to see you later, Praxus," Elita said, her optics sympathetic. Then she nodded to the mechs and went along with Chromia.

Praxus was certain that he felt Prowl's optics boring into his back, but he made himself keep still. He swallowed.

"Walk." Prowl said, giving his one of his wings a stern touch to tell him which direction to go.

Praxus obeyed, resisting the impulse to flick his wings and lose the lingering feel of Prowl's fingers.

Auri had told him about wing-touch-communication the other day, and he realized that it was true. Different touches on the wing meant different things, and Prowl's hadn't felt good. In general, Auri had explained, touches at the top of the wings meant control, guidance, or direction, while touches on the side edge of the wings meant friendship, mentorship, or camaraderie, and touches on the bottom edge of the wing meant care, sympathy, or support. Prowl's touch had been at the top of Praxus's wing. The 'control' location.

Praxus wished that he could have had any other touch.

Every step he took hurt, and his back was burning. Ratchet had told him to be careful since he'd misaligned it yesterday, and getting tackled by Elita, who gotten him in the back, was probably on the list of things of things to avoid. He'd probably misaligned it again, for it'd not had time to heal. The impact of hitting the ground had hurt, too, and his body still stung a bit from that. His paint was rather scraped now, too.

Well, Prowl was taking him to Med-Bay, and Ratchet would-

Soundwave-

The world spun out from underfoot, the sun gleaming too brightly. His optics started to glitch and his balancers-

Praxus gasped as he started to fall, but then he found himself pressed against a building. He rested his helm on it. This was better.

He started to let his knees buckle so that he could relax and sink to the ground, but Prowl gave him a firm hand in the back.

"No." Prowl ordered, keeping his hand on Praxus's back. "If you go down, you will not be unable to get up."

"Oh…" Praxus said weakly. His wings lowered a bit more.

"We are only six blocks from Med-Bay." Prowl said.

Praxus felt his head reel. It might as well have been six _miles_. He felt a little sick. He wished he could glitch out and wake up in Med-Bay. Then, though, he realized, Soundwave would be there, waiting for him… to finish the job he'd started so long ago…

Prowl, standing there with his hand on his prisoner's back, felt his prisoner shudder then sag in despair. His prisoner's will was ebbing away.

Prowl was an Enforcer. He gave protection to the innocent and brought the guilty in for dispensation of justice. He did his work according to a number of codes that ran through his programming. He chose which ones to follow at the appropriate times, but he had enough freewill that he could chose not to follow them if he had sufficient reason.

Right now, his Enforcer code was telling him to be gentle with Praxus. Enforcers worked for the betterment of the community, and that included the wrongdoer. Right now, the wrongdoer's will was breaking, and it was against Enforcer code to break a will unless it was absolutely necessary. And Prowl _knew_ it wasn't necessary. He knew deep in his spark that Praxus hadn't deliberately broken all those traffic laws.

Putting aside his anger at being bitten, Prowl knew that Praxus had fled in terror of Soundwave, not in an attempt to flee justice. That made Soundwave the hostile or the wrongdoer and Praxus the innocent, the one to be protected.

_BUT HE BIT ME!_ His pride and defenses shouted.

_Only because you hurt him first_. His logic replied with a soft yet inexorable tone.

Prowl bowed to his Enforcer coding and his logic.

"Six blocks does sound far," he said with a slightly different Enforcer tone, the firm encouraging one, "But, I know you can make it."

Praxus shook his head slightly, weakly, possibly without meaning to.

"You have not survived the horrors and brutalities of the Decepticons to die in the peaceful streets here." Prowl said.

That elicited a faint snort. "Soundwave." That was all Praxus said, but Prowl understood.

"Logic, even weak logic, would prevent Soundwave from harming you." Prowl replied. Then he explained. "You would fight back, and in Soundwave's physically weak state, it would be him who would suffer the most harm, not you. Also, if he seriously hurt you, he would fall out of favor with Auri, who is presently his only motivation for remaining online other than the exacting of revenge on his attackers. And he would need to be online and whole in order to exact revenge, which he would not be if he harmed you. Furthermore, were he in the off chance –0.09%, by the way- to succeed in killing you, Ratchet would personally see to it that he be punished to the full extent of the law. And that would involve things Soundwave would wish to avoid, including things that would keep him from Auri and from ever exacting revenge on his attackers."

Praxus processed that. He couldn't argue with all that. "Mmmn-huh." His response didn't come out like he meant it to, but Prowl apparently recognized it for the positive acknowledgement it was supposed to be.

"Now." Prowl said, "You need to be in Med-Bay so Ratchet can ease your pain and repair your back. You can walk six blocks."

Praxus felt Prowl's fingers brush the lower edge of his wing then. Support. Six blocks didn't seem so impossible then.

"Come on." Prowl said.

Praxus nodded and stepped unsteadily away from the building. He looked at Prowl, but Prowl's face was a professional impassive mask as he motioned for Praxus to go ahead. Praxus took a step, and Prowl took a position beside him, hand partially lifted, ready to catch him if need be.

OoOoOoOoO

Ironhide put a hand on Auri's shoulder to keep her from running after Prowl and the fleeing Praxus.

"But he'll hurt Prax-" She started to protest.

"No, he won't." Ironhide reassured her. "He's in Enforcer mode, now; all business. He'll apprehend Praxus, but he won't retaliate for the bite."

"oh…" she turned her attention to Soundwave and Ratchet.

Ratchet was reprimanding. "… not cleared to leave your room. You're not even cleared to get up!"

Soundwave nodded. "Let me sit and rest. Then I can go back."

Ratchet paused. Then he nodded curtly. "Fine." He helped Soundwave slowly to a berth with a tilted-up back.

Auri went over once he was settled, and she climbed onto the berth and sat by him. "You came all the way out here…?" she wondered.

"I heard your screams." He said, touching the side of her face tenderly. "You are unharmed?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. I just screamed because Praxus bit Prowl."

"He still bites?" Soundwave asked, showing curiosity.

Auri hesitated and looked over at Ratchet. "He does… when he feels very threatened. He's basically just a big bipedal cyber-kitten. He's very nice and sweet until something freaks him out, and then he'll run or bite."

Soundwave seemed to consider this.

"What's between you and him?" Ratchet asked, optics grim and narrow.

Soundwave looked over at him. "Please, let me explain once he returns."

The medic reflected on this request then nodded. Soundwave was still very weak and excessive speaking wouldn't help his recovery.

They waited a while, Auri snuggling with Soundwave, Ratchet standing by, and Ironhide standing stiffly near one of the berths of guns. Ironhide had stayed away during Soundwave's waking hours, and it tore his spark to see his little Auri with the online Con.

"You _do_ need a new paint-job." Auri commented softly.

"In time, MyAri." Soundwave reassured her. Ironhide ground his teeth but kept quiet. He had _so_ much to rage about. He'd been furious at Ratchet for chucking his new guns at him, but that paled now in comparison to the pain and rage he felt at hearing Soundwave calling _his_ little Auri 'MyAri.' He couldn't even think about how mad it made him. It _hurt!_

Finally, the door opened, and Prowl escorted Praxus in. Praxus seemed to be compliant and submissive to the Enforcer's touch, but all that changed when he saw that Soundwave was still there. He jerked back, nearly tripping Prowl, and began to fight the cuffs on his wrists.

"No-!" he fretted, "No… no!" He writhed at Prowl's touch on his arm and tried to pull away. "No!"

"Stop." Prowl commanded, holding up a hand. Praxus cringed and stopped. "He will not dare hurt you." Prowl reminded. "Come on."

"Wait up." Ratchet said as Prowl started Praxus towards the hallway. The wingers paused, Prowl looking questioningly at the medic while Praxus kept his optics down. "Soundwave has a story to tell first." Ratchet said, "Bring Praxus over here."

"No…" Praxus whimpered, his tone one of devastation.

"I have you." Prowl told him quietly then moved him towards Soundwave. Praxus shrank backwards against Prowl, unwilling to go forwards to Soundwave, his wings pressing against the Enforcer, but Prowl was unyielding and nudged him forwards.

"Praxus…" Soundwave said when Praxus was trembling beside his berth. Praxus would have bolted had Prowl not still been beside him, his hand firmly on Praxus's arm. "Praxus was the puzzling one of the M-Y creatures. The others in his gang/unit bullied him for a very long time, but then he began to rise against them. He fought back. Then one by one he began to rule them. Their assigned leader could not sway them like Praxus could, and he eventually bowed to Praxus. Most upstarts would have killed the leader, but Praxus did not. Praxus let him remain in command on the missions, but the mech had to follow his orders any other time and never harm him. Praxus ruled with a charming smile and an iron fist. He beguiled his gang into following him, beating its members only when necessary.

"M-Y creatures are not supposed to be able to function as Praxus began to. He began to think on a higher level and use logic as none of the M-Y could. Higher level feelings began to develop as well, care, sensitivity to others' feelings, concern, a slight sense of right and wrong when it came to killing. He started to lose his bestiality. He became an anomaly in the system, and his gang grew more successful because he led them. Then he tried to assassinate Megatron."

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge.

"That gave away his development, for M-Y were programmed to never harm a non-M-Y Con higher than them. He was handed over to Shockwave."

Praxus shuddered.

"He studied Praxus extensively, but realms existed in Praxus that even Shockwave could not access, so he signed Praxus over to me. I studied him. I synced in, tried locking out various sections of program coding, and watched the effect.

"With my tampering on the M-Y program, Praxus became mech-like, losing the M-Y creature-ness. But, he was a sparkling in an adult frame. He got into everything and vied for my attention at every turn. He was both constructive and destructive. I would find him tidying my lab some mornings, and on other mornings, I would find that he'd taken apart half of my tools. He did not recognize boundaries, and I found that his behavior often necessitated punishment once he lost the fear of me that he'd had at first.

"He was a pest, but he became a pet. I enjoyed the time I spent studying him and figuring him out. Megatron came in one day, though, while Praxus was asleep. He looked over my report summaries then gave me two options: offline Praxus, or reprogram him for M-Y function. I chose the latter." Soundwave paused, looking tired.

"How did that go?" Ratchet asked after a few moments had passed.

"I sent him back to square two, and he had to fight for a place among the creatures again. This time, though, he came stumbling back to me after several weeks. 'Something is wrong,' he said. He did not know what was wrong, but he knew something was wrong. The fact that he came to my lab was proof that something was wrong. I sedated him and tried reprogramming him for M-Y function again, but once again it only last for several weeks. He came back and said I did the wrong thing. I told him that he was supposed to be M-Y. He said he didn't want to be M-Y. He wanted to be himself."

"Is that when you fragmented me?" Praxus asked.

Soundwave shook his head. "No. I tried reprogramming you for M-Y once more. You still came back. That time you were… upset, crying. Then I knew. M-Y did not cry. I sedated you and tried to remove the M-Y program from you. I removed the core functions, but there were still countless strands of code running all through your system. I tried various ways to capture it to remove it, but still I could not get it all. You would get badly fragmented during that process, so I kept having to stop. But every time I stopped, the code would repair. So, I fragmented you as badly as I dared, and then put you in half-stasis, hoping the fragmentation could heal while the code was kept at bay."

"Did that work?" Praxus asked, frowning. He wasn't sure what he remembered.

"Barely. Then I did again as soon as you were defragged enough."

Ratchet drew in a sharp vent of air, shocked, but Soundwave didn't seem to notice.

"For several weeks, I tried everything. And then you wouldn't come out of stasis. I waited for many days. Hoping. Then Shockwave caught me unawares. He wanted to confiscate you. He could have, too. When he came the next day, though, I had faked your death; it was simple enough since you were already almost dead, and I had laid you on a dead berth. He had me walk with him a while and a ways, talking about experiments. When I returned, some service bot had taken you away. I searched, but I could not find you. I concluded that you had been…"

"Melted down." Praxus said quietly, sounding like he had the dots connected now.

Soundwave nodded.

"The corpse-melter…" Praxus said, "I woke up in his house. He said his job was processor-numbing, but he could tell a live mech from a dead one. And there weren't too many Praxians, so he thought he'd save me."

Soundwave sighed as if a great load had been taken from his spark. Then his optics slowly closed. "Good…" his voice was only a whisper now. Ratchet ran a scanner over him, and found him fatigued and in recharge.

"Alright." Ratchet said, "Everyone scat." It wasn't his voice but the voice of a shell-shocked medic.

Ironhide picked Auri up and left Med-Bay.

Prowl tugged Praxus's arm lightly, and Praxus turned to him with a stricken expression.

"Come on," Prowl said, "You need rest."

Praxus nodded. He needed rest more than anything at the moment.

Prowl led him to his room and removed the handcuffs before heading for the door.

Praxus followed a few steps after him in confusion, "S-sir…"

Prowl stopped and looked back at him.

"You… were going to lock me in a security cell… w-were you not?" Praxus asked hesitantly.

Prowl shifted a wing slightly. "Elita-One told me to reconsider." He said, "So I reconsidered." Then he left.

Praxus felt confused but grateful. Then he lay down to sleep.

OoOoOoOoO

(Day twenty-one after Soundwave's arrival; eight after Praxus's)

Praxus awoke. His whole body seemed to be without feeling, and he appreciated that. Yesterday had been painful in so many ways, on so many levels.

Praxus slowly rolled over and sat up. The whole room seemed foggy and vague and not entirely stable.

Drugs.

Praxus groaned weakly. He hated being drugged. He shut his optics, hoping that the drug would wear off before he woke up again.

It did.

He slept a while, and the drug wore off.

He woke up around early midmorning, and the effects of the drug were completely gone. Everything seemed normal now. As normal as things were for him. He wondered what normal was. Maybe normal was routine. His days were slightly routine. Yesterday hadn't been routine, though. He hoped today would be routine. He would like that, for routine meant snuggling with Auri for a good hour and a half while he stumbled over reading Cy-Stan words. He could use a good snuggle.

His optics found the only occupant of the main room at the computer. Jolt.

His wings lowered. Jolt didn't want to be friends. Ever. And that made him really, really sad.

Praxus hesitated. He could still try.

He approached Jolt from the side so the junior medic knew he was coming. He saw Jolt's optics shift a little and his back stiffen, but other than that, Jolt didn't acknowledge his presence.

"Good morning, Jolt." Praxus said, his tone hopeful.

Jolt turned a stony look on him. "I'm busy, working."

Praxus lowered his wings. "I'm sorry. I'll not bother you." He said. Then he backed away and walked off slowly. He would try something at lunchtime.

He went out into the courtyard, and lay down on one of the tables to soak sunshine into his wings, letting it warm his body. It felt so, so very good.

His story…

He'd never really known what had happened. He'd had his own version, set down in his memory as he'd perceived it. He'd thought that Soundwave was his guardian, a mech charged with looking after him. And Soundwave had looked after him for a while, treated him as a pet, cared for him, watched over him. For a time. And then Soundwave had turned on him, fragmented him, and tried to kill him.

Praxus sighed. All these eons, he'd thought Soundwave had betrayed him and tried to kill him, and that just hadn't been true. Soundwave had been trying to help and heal him.

Ratchet came out to check on him after a little while and found him in a light recharge, wings rising and falling lightly a little as his system regulated his temperature with vents of air. The Praxian seemed so peaceful sleeping in the sun, Ratchet thought. He was so used to Praxus fretting and writhing with nightmares each night that it seemed almost strange to see him sleeping quietly. He'd given Praxus some heavy sedatives last night because the nightmares had been so bad, and Praxus had seemed to sleep quietly after that, but it hadn't been natural. Now, it was natural.

Ratchet turned to leave, but his pede scuffed the ground enough to catch Praxus's attention. Praxus put his head up and looked over.

Then he smiled a drowsy smile. "Hi, Ratchet." He greeted as he put his head back down. He kept his optics on the medic in half-friendly but half-shy way. "Were you coming to talk?" he asked, sounding almost hopeful yet a little fearful.

Ratchet approached him. "I was just coming to check on you. I thought we could talk if you liked." He said.

"I'm awake now." Praxus said, shifting a little to his side. He blinked up at Ratchet then sat up on the table. "What…" he lowered his helm. "What would you talk about?"

Ratchet got up on the table and sat beside him. "I'm not sure exactly. Is there anything _you_ want to talk about?"

Praxus shifted a wing. "All this time, I had thought that Soundwave had deliberately tried to hurt and kill me. I've been so afraid of him for so, so long. I'm still scared of him within reason, but it feels… much better, knowing that he wasn't a foe."

Ratchet nodded in acknowledgement. Praxus didn't say anything else, though, for several moments.

"I… I'm not really ready to talk about anything." He said softly. "Not ready yet." His wings shuddered a little.

"It's okay." Ratchet said, reaching and putting a hand on Praxus's back. "I won't force you to talk, but I'll listen when you're ready. Just let me know. Okay?"

"Okay." Praxus said with a nod. "Thanks, Ratchet." He added. Then he turned and lay back down. "I love the sun on my wings." He murmured.

Ratchet smiled. "I believe all Praxians do."

"Do Praxians go crazy if they don't get enough sunlight?"

Ratchet felt mildly disconcerted at that question coming from Praxus. "I've not heard of anything like that. Seekers and other flyers will go crazy if they're confined for a prolonged period of time, but that doesn't have much to do with sunlight. It's more of a claustrophobia issue."

"Oh." Praxus murmured. "Okay. I was just wondering. I always feel so much happier when I'm in sunlight."

Ratchet gave him an odd look. "Praxus, your wings absorb sunlight and convert into energy for your system, just like your tank does Energon. Don't you know that?"

Praxus sat up with a look of wonder on his face. "I didn't!" he looked delighted. "That's splendid! _That's_ why I didn't completely starve to death without Energon so often!" he laughed with pure joy at this discovery.

Ratchet looked a little happy and a little disturbed.

"What else is wonderful about me, Ratchet?" Praxus asked eagerly.

Ratchet hesitated for a moment then began to tell him about the basics of his biology, how his energy conversion worked, how his muscle-system was designed and how each muscle had a name. He explained how the nerve-wires conveyed messages to his processor and how his sensory system worked, adding which areas were most sensitive. He watched carefully to see how Praxus responded to each byte of information, and he found that the young Praxian was fascinated if not awed. Praxus was a student with rapt interest… rapt interest for things that a sparkling would learn in third grade.

Ratchet paused, and Praxus looked at him expectantly at him, waiting for him to go on.

"What else, Ratchet?" he asked, coaxing almost.

"Is all of this new to you?" Ratchet asked.

Praxus nodded hesitantly. "Well, I did know that the fingers and hands are some of the more sensitive parts, but I didn't know how or why." He said, "Why do you ask?"

Ratchet pursed his lips. "What _were_ you taught?"

"Um… well, in regards to school subjects… Math. A version of history that never exactly happened. Prejudice. Reading. None of us could write, though. I figured out how to sort of once I left. Nobody ever told us how marvelously our bodies worked or how. Could we survive underwater for a while if we had to?"

Ratchet felt a bit overwhelmed then. "Nobody's tried that." he said, "None of us care much for extended time in water."

"Oh." Praxus said, "Maybe it's instincts keeping us safe from it then."

"Uh-huh." Ratchet said, "I need to go back to work now. I'll see if I have some data-pads that you could read about Cybertronian biology, though."

"Alright! I'd like that." Praxus said. He lay back down. "Thank-you, Ratchet." He said softly, "That was interesting."

"You're welcome." Ratchet said gently. Then he left, feeling like someone had dropped an orphan on his doorstep. Then he went locked himself in his office to cope with it.

Really, Ratchet was starting to feel just slightly overwhelmed at the problem of Praxus. The young mech had been in his Med-Bay a full week now, and it was just the beginning. They'd come a long way in that one week, but there was still so much that poor Praxus didn't grasp. He wasn't as much trouble as a sparkling, but in some ways he was more troubl_ing_. There was hardly any technical information on the M-Y; everything that Ratchet had found about M-Y's had been reports on the damages that the beast-like mechs had caused. There had been nothing about rehabilitating an M-Y, or any studies about M-Y behavior anomalies, or even anything about how they were programmed.

Nothing helpful had surfaced in all his searching.

Ratchet sighed. He ran his fingers over his desk and let his optics rest on the holograph picture-frame that sat on his desk. Auri and Praxus were there in the picture, snuggling on the couch with a data-pad in Auri's hands. There was a second picture-frame that had a picture of just Praxus, grinning a little grin, optics unvisored for once. His optics were twinkling happily for the most part, but there was still sorrow in their depths. He still had his nightmares.

Ratchet sat down and rested his chin on his hands.

He had two other resources besides his data-banks. He had Praxus. And he had Soundwave.

He knew Praxus would tell him everything that he could in time, but he also knew that Praxus wasn't quite ready yet. As for Soundwave… Soundwave was still too weak to talk much. In fact, he'd only been awake for a few moments since dropping into recharge yesterday. He'd overexerted himself telling his history with Praxus.

Time. Patience. Ratchet would have to wait, and then he could get answers. And he _would_ get them.

OoOoOoOoO

Lunchtime came around, and Praxus went into the main-room. Jolt was still there, still researching.

Praxus went over and got himself a cube of med-grade Energon and then he got a cube of regular-grade Energon. Then he approached Jolt, coming from the side instead of from behind, just as he had that morning.

"Good noon, Jolt." Praxus said, his tone hopeful.

Jolt hitched a shoulder up. "I'm working." He said coldly, not turning.

Praxus lowered his wings. Then he lifted them a little. "You need lunch, though, don't you?"

"Later." Jolt started to type something else.

Praxus's wings lowered. "Well… I brought you a cube if you wanted." He said softly.

"I don't." Jolt said tightly. He pressed down hard on the backspace key then started typing again.

"Jolt,"

"No!" Jolt spun to face him and put his hands palm-forwards in a pushing motion, "Just- Go- Away."

Praxus paused then took a few steps backwards. He didn't lower his helm, though. He looked steadily at Jolt, his optics searching the other mech's face.

"You… you're scared of me." He said softly as he realized it.

"And WHAT IF I AM?" Jolt yelled at him, trembling a little.

"Then…" Praxus faltered, "Then I need to fix that." he said. That was what Ratchet had taught him. He had to fix whatever he broke.

"I _don't_ want any '_fixing_' and definitely not from _you_." Jolt was shaking all over now.

Praxus took a step backwards. "I'm sorry, Jolt. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Go away. Go away _now_."

Praxus hesitated.

"_Now_, I said!"

"J-Jolt," Praxus said softly. He hesitated, and then he removed his visor so that Jolt could see his optics. "Please… would you please just talk to me for… half an hour? And then I will do as you wish."

"Not a second more than half an hour."

"I will not ask for a second more." Praxus promised.

"Okay. Fine." Jolt said tersely, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I… I would like to know why you hate me, why you fear me, and why you do not wish to be friends."

"You're an M-Y!" Jolt nearly shouted, "Or _were!_ That is your answer! That's why I hate you! That's why I fear! That is why I do not wish to be friends with you."

"Is it because of what Ultra Magnus said about M-Y?"

"No. It's not."

"Who told you about the M-Y, then?"

"Nobody told me!"

"Oh…" Praxus felt a little sick. "You saw…"

"Damn right I saw." Jolt's optics burned with pain and rage.

"What did you see, Jolt?" Praxus asked softly,

"You want to know?" Jolt demanded, shaking.

Praxus nodded. He didn't want to know, but he sensed that Jolt might, just might possibly feel better if he yelled about it at a former M-Y.

"Then I'll tell you." Jolt said. And he did, mercilessly. He told Praxus about the M-Y victims that he'd treated and left out not a single detail. He described every bit of gore, each horrible wound, gash, lash, and laceration, each sickening mutilation and every tear and every bite, everything, with an attention to detail that would have rivaled Prowl's attention to detail. His tone was one of avenging fury. He saw how the descriptions caused Praxus pain, and he wielded them to torture Praxus for being an M-Y. It was his revenge to make Praxus suffer through the descriptions of his patients. Nothing would ever bring those poor patients back or heal the pain their families felt, but if Praxus suffered, then he, Jolt, would feel just a little bit better.

Praxus bit his lip when Jolt added that there had been sparklings.

"And do you know what?" Jolt asked, starting to feel sick.

Praxus shook his head.

"I… I…" Jolt felt himself breaking. It wasn't about Praxus anymore. "I couldn't save them…" he felt his optics fill with tears. "I couldn't save any one of them." He sobbed. He hid his face in his arms on the desk. "I c-c-couldn't-" he sobbed, "Th-they w-were a-all t-to h-hurt." He cried. His frame shook as he cried and sobbed, tears running down his cheeks. "I h-hate l-losing e-even one p-patient, b-but I-I l-lost every single one of these…" he whimpered. Then he keened, loosing a long cry of absolute sorrow.

Praxus stood, afraid to do anything. He thought his spark was going to break.

"I l-lost th-them…" Jolt sobbed, "I lost them."

Praxus bit his lip again. Words… words seemed like they wouldn't be good enough, like they wouldn't even start to help. Words would be inadequate. He wanted to do something, though, something to help Jolt, something to ease Jolt's pain and grief. Yet… he didn't know what to do. He'd never learned to how comfort another being, or so he thought. Then he remembered First Aid.

"I los-ss-st _all_ of them…" Jolt was seemingly inconsolable.

Slowly, Praxus drew closer to Jolt, who paid him no mind, and then he reached out his hand. He stopped and froze, feeling a wave of fear wash over him, but then he conquered the fear. If he got hurt, it would be his due punishment. He had to try to comfort Jolt whatever the risks.

His fingertips touched Jolt's shoulder then jerked back as if burned without him meaning to. Instincts and reflexes told him to keep away. He firmed his resolve, though. He _would_ comfort Jolt. He reached out again, and this time he managed to touch Jolt's shoulder and keep his hand there. Jolt kept crying, however, grieving all the loss of life that he'd not been able to prevent.

Praxus gently rubbed Jolt's shoulder with the same fear and awe that he'd rubbed Auri's shoulder the other day when she'd been crying about Ratchet beating him. Jolt didn't turn on him, so he got a little closer and rested his other hand on Jolt's arm while he rubbed the bereaved medic's shoulder.

Minutes went by, and Praxus started to worry. Jolt's sobs hadn't even started to abate or lessen a little. He checked the time. They were well past the half an hour that had been promised.

Then Ratchet was there, standing in the doorway with a look of shock. Praxus gave him anxious look, and the senior medic came over quietly but quickly.

"What happened?" he whispered, alarm in both his tone and his face. "Why's Jolt…" he stopped. He'd never seen Jolt cry. Jolt didn't cry. In fact, Prowl was more likely to be caught crying than Jolt was.

Praxus whispered, "He's crying about… his… his patients that he couldn't save. The… the ones… that the M-Y's got."

Ratchet lifted his optics from Jolt, looking over him to Praxus's face. "No…" he looked stunned.

Praxus nodded. Then he shuddered. "I wanted to know why… he hated and feared me, so he told me about them." He looked a little sick. "And… he started sobbing because he hadn't been able to save them." Tears filled Praxus's optics then and one slipped down his cheek.

"Oh, Praxus," Ratchet murmured. He went around Jolt and hugged Praxus. Praxus resisted in fear for a second then melted against Ratchet, hiding his face on the medic's shoulder.

"I'm s-sorry, Ratchet."

"Oh, Praxus…" Ratchet rubbed the young mech's back, "Jolt's needed to grieve for a long, long time, but he's always fought it. He's not cried about any of his patients, but he's needed to. We're made with the function, Praxus. Tears, crying, they wash away hurt and help us heal inside, in our sparks. Jolt's… Jolt's not been able to heal. But, now he will be able to."

Praxus pulled away from Ratchet. "Really?" he asked, his optics begging Ratchet to be truthful.

Ratchet nodded. "Yes, Praxus. Really. If he'll try, he'll be able to heal now."

Praxus sniffled and rubbed his optics. "That would be good." He said, not sure what else he could say.

"That would be very good." Ratchet said softly. "He's getting overheated now, though, so I need to get him to lie on a berth."

Praxus nodded and stepped away.

Ratchet talked gently to Jolt then got him up from his chair and carried him over to a berth. Once Jolt was on the berth, he hid his face with a pillow, still sobbing.

Praxus hesitated, debating what he should do next, but then he went and sat beside Jolt and rested a hand on his shoulder. He'd stay with Jolt.

OoOoOoOoO

Jolt slowly awoke but didn't open his optics. Something was different. He hesitated and then he realized that it was him. _He_ was different, missing a heavy weight on his spark. Why…? How…?

Then he remembered Praxus. Praxus had gotten him to talk about his poor patients. It had broken him into crying. He'd been too deeply entrenched in his grief to let tears surface before, he realized, but Praxus had dragged him out, made him face it. Part of him felt angry at Praxus for making him grieve openly and let go, but another part of him knew that he'd been needing it for a long, long time.

He sighed. Then the hand on his shoulder tensed a little. Who was touching him?! He rolled over quickly and looked-

Praxus.

Praxus looked guarded and a little scared. "'M sorry-" he said unsteadily, drawing his hand away.

Jolt studied him and found that he was no longer afraid the dark Praxian. He didn't hate him anymore either, for some unknown reason.

"It… it's okay." He said. He shifted, and Praxus got off the berth to give him space. He sat up and looked around.

"You slept a while…" Praxus said. "Half an hour, I guess." He shifted his wings uncertainly.

"Mm." He felt like he'd slept half a century. He didn't know what to do now. It was strange to not have his grief hanging over him and weighing him down.

"Do you want lunch?" Praxus asked, looking sideways for someone or something to help him out.

"Um." Jolt wasn't sure if he did. "Yeah." He said.

Praxus went over and got the cube of regular-grade that was sitting on the desk. He brought it to Jolt and offered it to him. "Here you go."

"Thank-you." Jolt said, accepting it. He lowered his helm and took a sip.

"I… I'll go away now." Praxus said quietly.

Jolt stopped and looked up at him hesitantly. If he said nothing, Praxus would go, and he'd be rid of the ex-M-Y… who wanted to be friends, who would try to be a good friend if he had a chance. Praxus really didn't know how to be friends, but he wanted to.

"Hey," Jolt said, "You… you don't have to go."

"R-really?" Praxus asked hopefully, coming back in a few steps. "Really, Jolt?"

"I didn't say I'd be friends." Jolt said defensively, feeling afraid again, "I _only_ said you didn't have to go."

Praxus considered this, one wing shifting upwards a little as he cocked his head. "Okay, Jolt." He said. Then he sat down on the berth across from Jolt's. He understood that Jolt didn't hate him anymore, and he realized that Jolt would need time before he could be friends, but he would eventually be friends. They needed to find a little common ground, though. That would help.

"So… how do you feel about Mirage?" He asked offhandedly, swing one pede a little.

Jolt half-chuckled. "He's a good mech. But Auri's match he is not." He stated. And then he gave Praxus a bit of a smile. Praxus would be alright.


	22. Chapter 22

JUST a reminder, I don't write slash. Someone said something, so I feel the need to reiterate. No slash! No Prolt, no Ratchus, no Praxuwl. None of that. Okay. I'm done ranting.

Have some more story. :D

* * *

Chapter 22

(Day twenty-two after Soundwave's arrival; nine after Praxus's)

Ratchet looked around his Med-Bay's main room, just looking it over. It was tidy and clean, and Praxus's surrendered weapons were all piled high on two spare berths that had been pushed against a wall, waiting for Ironhide to come back and take them. Neither Ironhide nor Auri had been back to Med-Bay since Soundwave had recounted how Praxus had left the M-Y.

Praxus was lying on the couch with a data-pad, a serious look on his face as he studied the words and pictures on one of the grade-school-level biology data-pads that Ratchet had given him. He paused and then compared it with another one of the data-pads and then seemed satisfied that both said the same thing. He read a little more before twisting around and lifting his pede to look at it. He pointed and flexed his pede then, giving it a curious look before turning his attention back to his data-pad. A moment later, though, he was testing the mobility of his wrist.

Ratchet repressed a smile. His sparkling was learning the details about joints.

He turned his attention to Jolt then, watching his junior medic run tests on one of their machines. Jolt seemed better now about Praxus. He was seemed tender or touchy about some things; he was by no means "over" everything, but he was healing. Ratchet had caught him and Praxus laughing together about something earlier that morning, and that had been a good sign.

He smiled a little at the memory then called for Jolt's attention, "Jolt,"

"Yes, Ratchet?" Jolt said, turning from his work. "I'm going to Soundwave's room for a bit. He said he had something to say."

"Alright. Comm me if you need me."

"Will do." Ratchet said then turned to leave. "Keep an optic on things for me."

"Hey," Praxus protested mischievously, "I'm not a 'things.' I'm neither an object nor a plural."

"You knew what I meant." Ratchet told him firmly but couldn't repress a smile.

"Ratchet, when's Auri coming back? I miss her."

"She'll be back when she comes back." Ratchet replied then turned to leave.

"But, why isn't she coming anymore?"

Ratchet paused in the doorway and sighed. "Praxus. I don't know what the reason is. Now, you must stop asking me questions so I can go talk to Soundwave. You heard me say that I was going to go talk with him, so it is rude of you to keep asking me things to keep me here. Do you understand that?"

Praxus thought about this then nodded humbly. "Yes, sir."

"Good. I'll be back." Ratchet promised then turned to leave.

"I don't want you to go." Praxus pleaded.

Ratchet stopped again and looked back at him. The Praxian was sitting up now, looking a little upset. "You'll be fine here, and I'll be fine there, Praxus." He said. "Accept that."

Praxus lowered his wings. "Yes, sir." He mumbled.

Ratchet tried to leave once again.

"But-"

"No you don't." Ratchet said, "No, Praxus, no. No. _No_. If you interrupt me again while I'm trying to leave, I will thwack you with my wrench, and it won't feel good." With that he turned and left. He heard Praxus make a little discontented sound, but the Praxian didn't say anything, much to Ratchet's relief.

He went to Soundwave's room and found the blue Con idly watching his monitor.

"Well, Soundwave," Ratchet said, "What have you to say?"

Soundwave kept his optics on the monitor. "Just over three weeks ago, Megatron expressed his disappointment with my performance in my duties. I truthfully said I was tired from overwork. He gave me leave to take a 'break.'"

"And you got broken." Ratchet said drily, the cruel pun not lost on him.

"Exile." Soundwave said, "Three weeks."

"Ah."

"I do not think my liege ordered the Seekers to strike me down. He would have done himself. I understand that two Seekers sought to find out if I still lived and you told them I was dead…?"

Ratchet nodded. "Yep. That happened."

"They believed you?"

"Of course. I gloated a little and handed them printed proof. And you _were_ pretty close to dead."

"They are completely deceived then." Soundwave murmured, "However, my cassettes will know I am not dead. They would feel it if I was." He moved his hand and rested it over his spark.

"Ah." This could cause trouble.

"I am concerned for their well-being." Soundwave said, turning to Ratchet then. "They have a symbiotic relationship with me. Their sparks will deteriorate if they are away from me for too long."

"Uh-huh." Ratchet murmured noncommittally.

"They will come looking for me soon because I have not contacted them; I do not want them to be damaged or destroyed. Their intent would only be to find me, not to bother you Autobots."

Ratchet cocked his head. This wasn't as bad as he'd expected. "Alright." He said, "I'll inform Security of this situation with directions to stun if necessary but not to harm your cassettes if they show up."

"Thank-you, very much, Ratchet." Soundwave said, lowering his helm with respect.

"Mmn." Ratchet brushed it off. "That all?"

"Could… Could I have some paint?"

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge. "Sure. You want the same color as you had before?"

Soundwave lowered his helm in a nod. "Please."

"Okay. I'll have supplies mix some up for you. Anything else?"

Soundwave lowered his optics. "Has… Ari…" he faltered,

Ratchet felt a little sympathy stir in his spark when he saw how much sadness filled Soundwave's optics. "She's not been around since day before yesterday." He said gently, "And I don't know why she hasn't come. I've not been told anything."

Soundwave nodded his understanding.

"Sorry." Ratchet murmured. Then he left. He put in the order for Soundwave's paint, and then he went to the main room. He entered just in time to see Auri come slipping in.

"Auri!" Praxus cried out softly. He was off the couch in a split-second, running towards her. She took a couple steps backwards instinctively, and Praxus slowed his charge to a walk. "I'm sorry," he coaxed, "I didn't mean to scare you by rushing you. I… I just… r-really, really missed you." His voice had a vulnerable tone, and his wings looked sad.

"Aw, Praxus, it's okay," Auri said softly, and Praxus had her in his arms the next second, holding her and hugging her, squeezing her just a little as he pressed his helm against her.

"I was afraid you'd never come back and I'd never see you again." he confessed, wings trembling a little.

"It was barely one day,"

"I _missed_ you. I m-missed you s-so badly."

"Aw… sh-sh. It's okay, Praxus. I'm here now." She reassured him, and that seemed to calm him down. She let him cling to her for a little bit longer but then gently drew the line. "You need to let go a little, Praxus. TMT." TMT was their abbreviation for "too much touching."

Praxus reluctantly let go and stepped back, but he held her hands in his. "Why… can I ask why you didn't come yesterday?"

She nodded. "I was overwhelmed about what Soundwave had said, and I was scared. I was afraid I'd accidentally say something about it that would upset you, or that you'd want to talk about it, and I wouldn't be able to say the right things."

Praxus lowered his helm. "I was afraid that you weren't coming back because you didn't want to see me after Soundwave's story, or that Ironhide had forbidden you to come."

Auri looked devastated. "Oh, poor Praxus! No wonder you were upset." She hugged him. "That wasn't the case at all. And, if I'd been forbidden to come, I would have sent word."

"I'm glad." Praxus said with a sigh of relief. "Are you going to stay for a while now? Shall we read the regulations and rules? I tried to read some yesterday, but it was awful without you. Ratchet loaned me some sparkling-level school data-pads, and I read those instead."

"I need to go see Soundwave a little first, and then we can read." Auri said gently, touched by how much he'd missed her.

"Okay." Praxus said, contented by her reply. She smiled up at him and then left to go see Soundwave. He watched her go and then looked down at the floor as he slowly realized how much he must have sounded like a needy sparkling. Adults didn't act like he had. '_Grow up, Praxus,_' he told himself. He wasn't sure how to grow up, though. It, he supposed, would take time and effort.

He looked over at Ratchet and looked a little ashamed of himself. He lowered his helm and went over to the medic. "I'm sorry I was… a bit of brat about letting you go see Soundwave." He said.

"It's okay." Ratchet told him. "You have issues. We're just working on them."

Praxus nodded. Then he went and waited patiently for Auri to come back. She "finally" returned and sat down beside him. He snuggled instantly as if she was a little magnet.

"How much did you read yesterday?" she asked.

"Two pages." Praxus said, looking pleased when she looked surprised.

"That's grand, Praxus!" she said praised, "I was going to guess a paragraph and a half." She confided with a rueful grin.

Praxus chuckled softly. "That's how much I felt like reading, but I made myself go on."

"That's good self-discipline. Nice work, Praxus."

Praxus basked in her praise, and then they got on with the reading. Praxus read his allotted pages, and then Auri read two pages. Then she started quizzing him on what they'd read. He squirmed a bit when it came to that part, but she was patient and gave him hints sometimes and let him look things up from time to time.

Bumblebee came in as they were finishing up.

"I do think your reading comprehension has been going up." Auri encouraged Praxus. Then she saw Bee. "Hello, Bee!" she greeted.

"Hello," Bee greeted softly, coming over.

Praxus looked guarded. "Bumblebee," he said, "I… I was wondering if you would help me teach Auri some door-winger self-defense moves. She resisted like a non-winger the other day when I grabbed her from behind. Clearly, she's been taught well, but she's not been taught the best thing for our kind."

Bee hesitated, more than a little uncomfortable at the request, but then he nodded, putting his personal feelings aside. This was about Auri and her well-being, not about him and Praxus.

"Thank-you." Praxus said, getting up. He held out a hand to Auri and tugged her up gently when she took a hold of it.

Then, Med-Bay became a training room. Praxus had Auri show him the stances that she'd been taught, mirroring them himself. Then she showed him her basic defense moves.

"Nicely executed." Praxus said, trying his hand at praising a student. "Those are perfect for non-wingers. And acceptable for door-wingers, but we'll show you something better. Bee," he turned and found the black and yellow winger looking very guarded. He hesitated and slowly realized that he needed to consider the fact that Bee probably had feelings. True, Bee had told him that he didn't hold the M-Y torture against him, but Bee still probably hurt a bit in his spark.

He paused another moment. "Bee, would you rather be the aggressor or the… um, victim? Your choice."

"I'm smaller, so logically you should be the aggressor." Bee said levelly, "I'll be victim."

"Alright." Praxus said with a nod. He then explained what they were going to do, what moves they were going to show Auri. "We'll do it slowly, and I'll explain again as we move. I won't hurt you, Bee."

Bee nodded.

They went through the attack and defense maneuvers slowly, Praxus explaining to Auri how it all worked and how her wings came into play. Then they did it again slowly and a third time more quickly.

"Ready to try it?" Praxus asked Auri. She nodded. "Alright, Bee," he motioned for Bee to be the aggressor. "Slow, now." He coached them as Bee moved in and Auri defended herself. "Careful to not hit him full force in the face with the side of your wing, 'cause that would smart pretty badly on his end."

Auri did pretty well for her first time, but not overly well otherwise.

"That… that… um…" Praxus wasn't sure what to say.

"Shows potential." Bee said.

"Yeah!" Praxus said eagerly. He liked that. "It was dreadful, but a decent start. Let's see you try again. Watch where you keep that elbow next time. Guard your side."

They tried a couple more times, and the third time, Praxus poked Auri in the side, making her squeak with surprise.

"Guard you side, I said." He reminded gently. "Here, let's have Bee show you again. Come, Bee, we'll go slowly."

He moved in on Bee, and Bee responded. "Hold," Praxus said, and they held their positions. "See, Auri? Bee's guarding his side here, and he won't move his arm until he's turned just enough that it won't be exposed to me. You keep moving your arm up too soon. –Do that, Bee." He directed, and Bee moved his arm, "And see? He leaves his side vulnerable and open to a knife or claws or whatever," he stuck two fingers in Bee's side lightly.

Bee reacted instantly, not in slow motion, and not without intent to hurt. He whirled and slammed his elbow into Praxus as he hit the dark winger in the face with the edge of his wing then slammed a left fist into Praxus's midsection. Then he stepped back as Praxus doubled over, looking a little shocked at himself.

Praxus gasped a little then straightened, looking startled. "An' that's what you do then." He grunted.

Auri nodded, optics wide with fear and awe.

Praxus hesitated then reached out and touched her shoulder gently, "Auri, could you go to the courtyard a little while so Bee and I could talk about something?"

Auri looked a little grim. "Don't hurt him." She ordered.

"I swear I will not hurt him." Praxus replied, dead serious.

"Okay." She said, "If you do…" she pointed over at Jolt, who was watching them with a guarded look, "He'll get you."

Praxus nodded. "I know. But I'm not going to hurt Bee."

Auri gave the mechs one more searching look then left them.

The courtyard door closed behind Auri, and Praxus turned to Bee.

"How'd it feel to hit me?" he asked softly.

Bee didn't answer, and he kept his face a mask. It had felt good. He'd accepted his past and let go of his rage at the M-Y a long time ago, but hitting Praxus just now had made him feel something else, and he realized that he'd still been hanging onto a grudge just a little. He felt ashamed of himself for that.

"You want to hit me again?" Praxus asked,

Bee shook his head, but he knew he was lying. He wanted to pound Praxus into the wall.

"Yes, you do." Praxus said, and he knew why. He knew that for all Bee's talk about accepting his lot and finding peace, the young door-winger still had a bit in him that wanted payback. He could see it in Bee's manner.

Bee shook his head again.

"You're lying."

"I'm not." Bee lied quietly,

"Yes, you are, and now you're double lying."

"Stop. Just leave me alone. I apologize for hitting you. You don't have to taunt me about it. I didn't mean to."

"But you wanted to."

"Nnngh! Praxus. Stop it."

"Or what?"

"Forget it. I'm leaving."

"No, you're not." Praxus moved between him and the door. Then he moved again when Bee tried to go around him. Then he pushed Bee backwards lightly.

Bee stood there. It felt like Praxus was bullying him, and he hated being bullied. "What do you want, Praxus?" he growled in frustration.

"It's about what _you_ want, Bee."

"I want to leave in peace."

"You want more than that. Hit me, Bumblebee."

Bee curled his fists. "No."

"Do it, Bumblebee."

Bee unwillingly slugged him in side of the mouth. Praxus turned his head with the punch then looked at Bee again.

"Uh-huh." Praxus said, looking him challengingly in the optics. A little life-Energon was trickling from his lip, and he stuck his tongue out deliberately and licked at it, just as Bee's M-Y torturers had.

Bee's fist flew then, slamming hard into Praxus, and this time his other fist followed it. Then he half turned and slammed his elbow into Praxus. Then he punched up into Praxus's midsection then slammed his other hand into Praxus's face then kneed him hard. Blow after blow followed, and Praxus stood there, braced against a berth, and took each one of them without retaliation, grunting only a little at the most painful ones.

After a few minutes, Bee slowed then stopped and stepped back. He looked a little shocked at what he'd done, at how thoroughly he'd beaten Praxus. Jolt was standing just a little ways off, ready to intervene if necessary but not about to interfere.

"D' you want m' back now?" Praxus asked, sounding a little unwell.

Bee shook his head. "No, Praxus," he said softly, "I… I'm done." All the little bits of rage that had remained were now gone, leaving him shaky.

Praxus's wings sagged with relief. "Alright." He said. He put his head up slowly. "Better now?" he asked.

Bee looked at him with curiosity. "I… yes." He said softly. "Why…?" he wasn't sure how to pose his question… or maybe it was that he had too many questions to pose.

"You wanted to hit me." Praxus said, looking down, "Maybe you even _needed_ to. I don't know. I just knew that it would be better if you could get it out of your system. I got Jolt to yell at me yesterday, and then he was fine after a bit."

Jolt looked quickly to Praxus's face at mention of his name and yesterday, fearing what else Praxus would say, but Praxus met his optics and gave him a look of reassurance. He wouldn't tell.

Bee glanced over at Jolt for a moment then dropped his optics. "I'm sorry." He said, looking at his knuckles. He'd pounded the paint off them, and there was a little life-Energon seeping through at some of the joints.

"No, Bumblebee." Praxus said quietly, "I'm the one who needs to be apologizing. I… I'm just not sure how. I mean… what we did makes words inadequate. 'Sorry' just… doesn't seem to cut it. You know?"

Bee nodded his understanding.

"It could be a start, though." Jolt offered in a low tone.

Praxus studied him, considering this. "Alright." He said after a moment. "Um…" he lowered his optics, "Should I… I don't know… I… I've never apologized for something huge before. Is there... a… um something standard that's done?"

"You could kneel." Jolt said, "That's what we Bots do if it's something serious."

"Oh…" Praxus hadn't thought of that. It made sense. He nodded then got down on his knees, biting his lip a little as his defense systems warned him to not place himself below another mech. He was in prime position to get kicked to pieces. He steeled himself and laced his fingers behind his back, lowering his helm. For several long minutes, he said nothing, figuring out what words to speak. Then he was ready.

"Bumblebee," he said softly and humbly, "M-Y committed horrible crimes against you in many ways, and I regret that I had a part in those crimes. I helped them hurt you, a fellow Praxian who I should have defended. My words sound inadequate to me, but it is my hope that you will hear and know that they are sincere and come from my spark. For what I did, and for what the other M-Y's did, to you, I am… I am deeply sorry. I apologize."

Bee reached out slowly and touched the top of the crest on Praxus's helm, making Praxus flinch involuntarily.

"Praxus," Bee said gently, sounding touched, "I accept your apology with all my spark, and I freely forgive you."

"Thank-you." Praxus murmured. Bee held his hand out to Praxus and helped him up when he grasped it. Both mechs' grips were warm, and they met each others' optics. Bee smiled a little, and Praxus looked regretful. "You hurt your knuckles." He said reproachfully.

Bee looked down. "I wasn't wearing my battle armor."

"I'll wash and wrap them for you." Praxus said softly, "C'm on." He motioned for Bee to follow him, and they went over to the first-aid area. Praxus took care of Bee's hands gently but efficiently and had each finger neatly wrapped within a few minutes. "All done." He said, tapping Bee's wrist, mimicking Ratchet without meaning to.

"Thank-you." Bee said. Then he smiled ruefully as he looked Praxus over. "You're a sight."

Praxus looked down at himself. "Yellow scuffs really stand out on black, huh." He commented. "It'll buff out. Oh, I forgot about Auri-" he turned towards the courtyard door, and then he saw that it was open just a crack, and Auri was standing just outside with one blue optic peeking in. "Hey!"

She opened the door and came in. And then she hugged him before he could say anything to her. After that, he couldn't reproach her or chide her for spying on them. He just couldn't. Besides, if she'd spied on them the whole time, that meant they wouldn't have to explain what had happened. He snuggled her then let go.

"I need to go buff and refinish my paint." He told her gently,

"Okay." She said, looking up at him with tender optics. Then he slipped away to his room.

OoOoOoOoO

Praxus was alone in the main room that afternoon when Ironhide came in, and he was so absorbed in his data-pad that he didn't notice.

Ironhide paused and looked at him, studying him for a couple moments. He was lying on his belly and had his chin propped up on one hand while the other hand held the data-pad. One wing was at a lazy angle, but the other one was perked up with interest. One pede was resting up on the armrest, and the other had been too at one point, but Praxus had bent his knee and now the pede hung in the air with a carefree manner. The visor hid his optics and their expression, but his mouth was almost open, his lips barely touching a little as he studied something intently.

Ironhide took a couple steps forwards, making his presence known, and Praxus sat up quickly, turning his attention to Ironhide as he swiftly slipped the data-pad under a pillow.

"Here," Ironhide said, "What's that?" He asked lightly. He thought his spark would break if it was what he feared it was.

Praxus looked down. "A sparkling-level data-pad." He said softly, embarrassed at having been caught reading something that would betray his lack of education. He reluctantly tugged the data-pad out from underneath the pillow and held it out to Ironhide so the big mech could see it. Ironhide took it gently, and Praxus watched him look at it, lowering his wings and bracing himself for whatever mocking words would come his way when Ironhide found out that he was just now learning the difference between an artery and vein.

Ironhide's optics took in the page. Third-grade biology. Easy to understand diagrams. Youngling-friendly sentences with "tough" vocabulary words in bold. He looked from the data-pad to Praxus. "Why…" he said slowly, gently, "Why were you reading this, and why did you hide it when I came in?"

"They never taught me about how life works, only how to end it." Praxus said unhappily, "Ratchet found that out yesterday, so he loaned me some sparkling-level data-pads on biology so I could learn about it. I hid it because I didn't want to get laughed at for being unlearned."

Ironhide bit his lip. "I wouldn't laugh at you for that, Praxus." He said gently, "I might chuckle if you do something clumsy, but I would never laugh at a mech for trying to catch up on education. Know that."

"Yes, sir." Praxus said, then added shyly, "Thank-you."

Ironhide smiled kindly at him and handed the data-pad back. "When I saw you hide the data-pad, I was afraid you were looking at something else. I'm glad it wasn't that."

Praxus looked lost. "Me, too." he said although he hadn't a clue what Ironhide meant.

Ironhide saw that, and it made him twice as glad. "Come tell me about my new guns." He said, motioning with his hand.

"Yes, sir." Praxus said eagerly. He led the way to the stacks of weapons. "You should probably inventory them all quickly and take them all today, and then get the info on them as we have time later." He said, "Ratchet's been threatening to take them apart for parts and melt them down for other purposes. I don't _think_ he means it, but it makes me anxious nonetheless."

Ironhide chuckled softly. "Ratchet knows better than to mess with anything of mine." He said, and that made Praxus smile.

They stood for a moment looking at stacks on guns, and then Praxus took out a data-pad. "Here's my inventory list of them. I have the names in Con-Stan and Cy-Stan. Um… but, Jolt said that my Cy-Stan writing is hardly any good… at all. He helped me with about a quarter of them, but then he had other work to do, so the other three-quarters of the Cy-Stan names will be a mess. I guess you might know them anyways, and I can tell you what they are if you don't for some reason." He stopped. He'd been rambling nervously, he realized.

Ironhide gave him a reassuring smile and a nod. "We got this, Praxus." He said. And they did. They had it.

Praxus found it enjoyable, actually. It was clear that Ironhide was the one with authority between the two of them and that he could smack Praxus down if he saw fit, but he didn't act like it. He treated Praxus with a respect that no other bot taller than him had ever treated him with, and Praxus liked that. He appreciated not being trodden on by a senior officer, and he reciprocated Ironhide's respect and kindness. They got along well, and Praxus was eager to please the big black weapons specialist. He almost forgot that he'd ever been terrified of him.

"Oh, no…" Ironhide murmured suddenly, "Praxus, where did you get this one?" his hand trembled a little as he picked up a neat revolver.

"I won it from another M-Y from a different gang. Why?" Praxus looked concerned. It was obvious to him that Ironhide knew that weapon.

Ironhide looked down at the revolver. "See this little design that's etched on it?"

Praxus stepped close and saw it. "Uh-huh."

"That goes on every single one of Ultra Magnus's guns."

Praxus's jaw dropped. Then he shut his mouth. "The M-Y I got it from… his gang had just come back from massacring a town and this gun was part of the plunder. That means…" He lowered his optics. "Ultra Magnus must have been chosen to remember."

Ironhide frowned, uncertain of what Praxus meant about remembering.

"M-Y… would kill a certain percentage outright." Praxus explained, "They'd fatally wound another percentage… those ones would live a day or two then die. And a tiny few, sometimes only one if the population was small, would be chosen to remember. We'd brutalize the chosen and bind them in the center of the chaos. They were important because they spread the hate and fear of us."

"I see." Ironhide said softly.

"I guess I don't have to wonder anymore why Ultra Magnus hates me so much." Praxus said, looking sick. "And I guess I know now that he will never reconcile with me." He studied the gun. "What will you do with it?" he asked.

Ironhide hesitated. "I'm not sure yet." He said. "It _should_ go back to him since he's its rightful owner, but I think it would cause more upset and harm if he got it back through you. I'll ask Prime. How about you keep it until then, alright?"

"Alright." Praxus said hesitantly, "But… if he finds out I have it, he'll probably take it from me and shoot me with it."

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge. "Well, I'm not going to tell him that you have it. Are you?"

"No, sir!"

"So, he's not gonna find out. See? You're safe, Praxus."

"Thank-you, Ironhide." Praxus said a little sheepishly.

Ironhide smiled at him. "No problem. By now, I'm used to Praxians freaking out about things with little reason." He said with a fond note in his tone.

"Are we Praxians a little hyper?"

"You could say that." Ironhide said with a chuckle.

Elita came in a few minutes later, and Praxus hissed at her automatically when he saw her, growling afterwards. She paused. Praxus looked abashed.

Ironhide gave Praxus a look of curiosity. "Now what was that for?"

Praxus lowered his wings. "She startled me. I didn't mean to." He said, but Ironhide, well-experienced in reading Praxian body-language, had a feeling that that wasn't the whole story.

"I apologize for startling you, Praxus." Elita said, deeming it safe to approach then. "I'm not fond of being startled myself."

Praxus shook his head warily, moving just a tiny bit closer to Ironhide as the femme came over.

"Did Prowl get you back here alright?" Elita asked kindly.

"Yes, ma'am." He said, optics watchful behind his visor.

"I'm glad to hear it." She said, "Chromia was skeptical about how well it would go, but I assured her that you and Prowl would be fine."

Praxus nodded guardedly. "Yes, ma'am." He murmured.

Elita paused, looking a little concerned. "I hope my tackling you has not upset you beyond good feelings." She said. She started to reach towards Praxus, but she stopped when she saw him stiffen.

"N-no, ma'am." Praxus said, shaking his head.

"That's good." She said. "It was a rough first meeting, and I was afraid it might have gotten things off to a bad start."

Praxus looked sideways to Ironhide for two seconds, silently begging for help. "N… no, ma'am." He said to Elita.

"Well… I'm glad." She said. She could see that she was getting nowhere with Praxus despite her efforts. She turned to Ironhide, "Ironhide, have you seen Chromia in the past… ah, thirty to forty minutes?"

"No, ma'am, I've not." He said with a bit of a smile, "I've been here the past hour or so, and she's not been in."

"Hm." Elita looked puzzled. "Well, thank-you, Ironhide. I'll see you later. Good-bye, Praxus."

Praxus lowered his helm but said nothing. Elita gave Ironhide a look of sadness then left.

"You know," Ironhide said drily once the doors were closed, "You coulda strung a couple words together. It was a little rude, barely responding when she was trying to make conversation with you."

Praxus didn't say anything. The older mech's rebuke hurt him, stinging him. He hadn't been trying to be rude! He was afraid of Elita. -And all femmes who weren't Auri.

Ironhide looked over at him when no answer or acknowledgement came, and he saw then the hurt and fear that Praxus carried in his frame and the set of his wings. He realized that he shouldn't have reprimanded Praxus as he had. He'd misjudged Praxus and Praxus's intent… and it was the second time that day that he'd misjudged Praxus and assumed something about him that wasn't correct. He'd jumped to the conclusion earlier that Praxus had been looking at something he shouldn't have, and just now he'd assumed Praxus had been trying to block out Elita for the sake of being rude. He'd been wrong both times.

He paused to consider this. He didn't usually misjudge new bots or jump to conclusions so quickly, so why did he with Praxus? He studied Praxus for a moment and then realized why. It was because Praxus had been a Decepticon. There were prejudices in his processor. He wasn't intentionally stereotyping Praxus and judging him, but his subconscious was causing him to lean towards that just a little. Now that he realized it, he would stop it. He would correct himself.

"Praxus," he said softly, "I'm sorry. I don't know you that well, and I shouldn't have rebuked you without knowing better why you acted as you did."

Praxus wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to trust Ironhide, but… oh, he was so scared.

Ironhide reached out his hand, and Praxus gasped a little, cringing, but Ironhide gently touched the side of his wing near the top, brushing it with his fingers. _Mentor, friend_, the touch said. _Mentor, friend_.

Ironhide took his hand away. "I meant to direct and help." He said gently, "Not to hurt you or make you think I'm not understanding. Although… I guess I _wasn't_ very understanding." He looked self-deprecating. "I stick my pedes in my mouth sometimes even when I mean well."

Praxus snarled and hissed, and Ironhide looked shocked.

"Grr-hiss to you, too." Chromia said. Ironhide turned and found her coming in the courtyard door. "Why'd you greet me like that, Praxcrycan? I thought we were getting along well."

"'M sorry, Chromia." Praxus said, lowering his wings, "M-Y… well… there were… we had femme-commanders who it was their job to make us fear and hate femmes, and… th-they did it well. I hissed an' snarled at you reflexively because you came in the door. I did the same to Elita-One a little earlier."

"Oh." Chromia said. She wished that she hadn't heard that. "So, Elita was here?"

"Yes, ma'am. She was looking for you, actually."

"Uh-huh." Chromia said, approaching the mechs. "We're playing 'catch me if you can.' She probably thought I'd come here because I avoid Med-Bay." She pressed up against Ironhide's back and put her arms around him. "Not today, though."

"Mm-hmm…?" Praxus was watching curiously.

"You mech-lings playing with your toys?" she teased lightly as she stepped between Ironhide and Praxus. Praxus moved away, light on his pedes in almost a skittish manner.

"What are you dancing away for?" Chromia asked, optics twinkling in bemusement.

Praxus hesitated and shrugged.

"He's probably afraid you're gonna slap him like you did me that time he was peeking at us." Ironhide said, keeping a straight face and his optics on a cannon.

Chromia chuckled and gave Ironhide another such slap, only lighter and friendlier. "Oh, you." She said. She went around to his other side and leaned against him, putting her arms around him and linking her fingers together at his side. "There, cutes, come on back. You're safe for now."

Praxus came back with a shy smile and got back to polishing the small cannon he'd been cleaning. He kept an optic on Chromia, though, as he worked, or rather, on Chromia's hands. From the corner of his optic, he watched her unlink her fingers and rest one hand a little lower on Ironhide's hip while the other hand lazily caressed his side. It went up and traced the line of armor that covered Ironhide's upper back a couple times, and then it trailed gently back down to his waist. Then it went just a little lower down.

"Just what are you doing, femme?" Ironhide asked, lifting an optic-ridge.

"I'm watching Praxus watch me."

Praxus's wings twitched, and he fixed both optics firmly on his work, his face burning a little.

"You don't know about spark-mates, do you, Prax?" she said softly.

"N… no, ma'am." He said, keeping his optics down.

"Well…" she said, her tone uncharacteristically gentle, "Ironhide belongs to me, and I belong to Ironhide. We chose it to be that way because we loved each other. We still love each other… even more now than we did when we first decided to bond. We understand each other, look after each other, care for, love, respect, enjoy, and cherish each other. It's not a perfect relationship, and it takes work at times, but it is… special."

Praxus looked at them with soft wonder in his optics, and Chromia felt that things were getting too… emotionally intimate.

"Ironhide's an aft sometimes, though." She said, giving Ironhide slight slap on the rump, "So. Are you really giving up all these pretties?"

"Uh-m- y-yes, ma'am." The swift change of subject disconcerted Praxus for a moment. "I'm still keeping a few for myself, though. And… err… giving a few to Auri with your permission. I know she has some, but… if it's okay…"

"Sure, it's okay. If you don't think you're getting anything back from her."

"No, ma'am!" Praxus's wings flicked up in horror, "It's not a down payment on anything. She's my friend, and I would like her to be as well-armed as possible."

"Alright." Chromia said.

"They're small enough that Ironhide would look silly wielding them, anyway." Praxus dared to add a little cheekily.

"Oh-hoho!" Chromia chuckled at the jest, and that made Praxus grin a shy but happy little grin. Chromia grinned back at him. "But be careful," she said, sobering, "You don't want to sound disrespectful towards Ironhide… or anybody else for that matter."

"Yes, ma'am." Praxus said with a nod. Then he looked up at Ironhide quickly, "I have great respect for Ironhide and wouldn't intentionally dis him."

"That's good." Chromia said. "He doesn't take too well to being treated disrespectfully. Ratchet tolerates it, but Ironhide… uh-uh. He'll smack your aft off so fast you won't know what hit yah."

Praxus chuckled uncertainly, not sure how to reply and not entirely certain that the femme wasn't exaggerating.

Ironhide shook his head. "I give fair warning the first time." he said, "And a gentle reminder the second time. The third time, though, I'll lay you low."

"That sounds reasonable." Praxus said, sounding a little impressed at such niceness and tolerance. True, Ratchet treated him nicely and tolerantly, but it was still a novelty, being treated like that. "Ratchet's rather like that." he added.

"Huh-uh," Chromia chuckled, "Ratchet is way-hey more tolerant. He goes on with gentle reminders for a long time before he gets tough. He lets Prowl stamp all over him, and the twins are completely unmanageable around him, and he completely spoils Auri. Oh." she looked up at Ironhide, "We need to talk later about some behavior issues that have started up." She told him, "I don't know if it's Ratchet's spoiling or what, but Auri's been turning into a downright brat at times, and I think it probably needs to be addressed."

Ironhide pursed his lips a little. "I've noticed some things as well, but I believe she's just responding to stress. We can talk about it more later, though."

Praxus looked uncomfortable. "Ratchet says _I'm_ a brat…" he confessed, afraid that he might be to blame for Auri's misbehavior.

Ironhide's optics twinkled gently when he looked at Praxus. "Mech, I wouldn't take it to spark." He said reassuringly, "Ratchet calls just about everybody under his care a brat at some time or another. He's called _me_ a brat."

"Not a stretch of the imagination." Chromia said drily, giving him a pat. Then she chuckled at Praxus's look of uncertainty. Her amusement faded quickly, though, as a bit of sadness got to her spark. "You'll have to visit us once you're cleared from Med-Bay." She said, smiling at the young mech with a hint of softness. "We can talk. About stuff. 'Kay?"

Praxus nodded.

"Hey," Chromia said lazily the next moment, "One of my spies just intercommed and said Elita's heading back this way. So. Since I wanna win this game, I'm gonna clear out."

"Alright." Ironhide said. "I'll see you later."

"Mm-hm." Chromia said. She kissed him well on the mouth, partially for her own benefit, and partially for Praxus's education. Then she headed for the door.

"G'bye, Chromia," Praxus called after her shyly.

"Bye, Praxcrycan." She said then slipped out the door.

Praxus went back to polishing one of the guns, content at having gotten a 'bye' and but still trying to figure out why she called him the things she did. It had puzzled him since the first time.

Ironhide gazed over at him for quite a few moments, marveling just a little at how much Chromia had warmed and opened to him. In fact, he realized, he'd never seen Chromia warm to _anybody_ this fast.

"Praxus," Ironhide said gently after another moment.

"Yes, sir?" Praxus looked to him, giving him all his attention,

"Chromia… Chromia doesn't like just anyone." He said slowly, picking his words carefully, "In fact, she regards most mechs with a great deal of distrust and sometimes hatred. She's warmed to you, though, and that's special. If you're careful, she'll be a strong and trustworthy friend for you."

"If I'm careful." Praxus echoed cautiously.

Ironhide nodded. "If you break her trust… it'll be gone, and she'll probably hurt you, too. She's had a hellishly rough life." He paused as he realized something. "Maybe that's why she connected with you so readily, though. There's empathy there."

"Yes, sir." Praxus said softly, marveling at how wonderful it would be to have Chromia as a friend. She was confusing a lot of the time, and just a bit intimidating most of the time, but he did like and look up to her. "Thank-you for telling me." He added even more softly.

"You're welcome." Ironhide said with a nod.

Praxus paused and then cocked his wings uncertainly. "Hey… um. Why does she call me things? Like, 'Praxcrycan' and… err…" he twisted his lips, "uh, 'cute-stuff.'"

"And 'Charmer' and 'Sweet cheeks.'" Ironhide added with a bit of a grin. He chuckled when Praxus's face heated up.

"Yes…" Praxus said with a bit of a protesting groan, "I don't know _why_ she does it, and it sounds funny."

Ironhide patted Praxus's shoulder. "They're called 'endearments,' Praxus. And she uses them in place of your name to let you know that she doesn't hate you."

"Oh..." He said. Then he smiled. En_dear_ments. He was dear to Chromia. He liked that.


	23. Chapter 23, Virus and No Virus

I finally watched the last three episodes of Transformers Prime last week! AIGH! I nearly cried! OH, BUMBLEBEE! I think I died a little. It was… I think it was a really, really great finale. Just… yes!

And… this is a rather long chapter… There was a point where I could have ended it sooner, but I really, really wanted to get the Prowl-Auri fluff in, so… 9,000+ words instead of the 7,000-8,000 words I usually shoot for.

I'll send out review replies for last chapter… I just have too much to do at the very present. Maybe a little later today I'll reply.

And I didn't proofread thoroughly… sorry… I plead two jobs and full-time college.

* * *

Chapter 23

**Virus and No Virus**

"Hello, little Auri," Prime called across the street.

Auri stopped then crossed the street with a happy smile. "Hello, Prime." She said. He crouched, and she hugged him.

"What are you up to?" he was on his way back to his office after a meeting and felt himself needing something to make him smile. He knew that talking to Auri would do that.

"I'm going to the pub for a sweet Energon." Auri said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I've been off sweet-En for a while, and it's about time I had one."

"Are they important then?" Prime asked as he started to smile.

"Very important," she said in a serious tone, but her grin and twinkling optics belied her words. She was teasing him.

"I should go with you and get one myself then." Prime said reflectively, "It has been weeks since I have had sweet-En."

Auri nodded eagerly. She loved any little bit of time that she got with the Autobot leader. "You're long overdue for sweet-En." She told him, almost dancing with delight.

"I should not be negligent, then. Shall we go now?"

"Yes." She said, and slipped her hand into his. She loved his hands, how it felt to touch them and how it felt when they touched her. It seemed to her like life flowed through them.

They walked hand in hand, Auri taking faster steps to keep up with the Prime, even as he tried to shorten his steps so he wouldn't out-stride her so much. Auri kept up a happy conversation about various things for a couple blocks, which Prime enjoyed listening to and encouraging, but then she got a little quieter as she thought of something. They came to the pub after another couple blocks, and Prime opened the door to the pub for the femme-ling and motioned for her to choose where they would sit.

He noted with some curiosity that she picked a booth farthest from the counter and to the side of the room. Something about it said 'privacy,' and her manner seemed to grow more serious. She smiled and teased Hound a little as she ordered sweet-Energon for herself and Prime, but once he left, Prime knew that they had something to talk about that wasn't all smiles.

"What's on your processor, femme-ling?" Prime asked gently, clasping his hands on the table and making optic-contact.

"Something that happened earlier today." She said, holding his optics then looking down a little. "I don't know how I feel about it."

Prime felt himself bracing a little. He hoped, sincerely hoped, that this 'feeling' that she was talking about wasn't something that had to do with a mech. He wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it as well as Ironhide. He knew he _could_ handle it, but he didn't feel confident in himself. He rather felt that way about himself quite a bit at times, unconfident.

"What is it?" he asked gently, "What happened?"

"Well, Praxus wanted to teach me some Praxian defense maneuvers," she said, drawing on the table with her finger, "And so he got Bee to help me. I could tell that they were a bit tense about each other, but they seemed okay enough. And so…" she paused as Hound approached.

Hound gave them each their Energon, received their thanks, and then went back to his counter.

"And so Praxus let Bee choose which role he got, so Bee chose victim because he was smaller than Praxus. They showed me one move, and repeated, then Bee was 'aggressor' and gave me practice while Praxus directed. I really didn't do it right. So they showed me again, and this time, Praxus touched Bee in the side, and Bee kinda exploded at him. Hit him and punched him and wing-struck him."

Prime nodded, and she went on, telling him how Praxus had sent her out of the room and how she'd snooped. She told him everything she'd seen, Bee pummeling Praxus, Praxus taking it, and everything they'd said. A few tears welled up in her optics when she told about Praxus's apology.

"Bee didn't say anything after Praxus left to buff and fix his finish." Auri finished softly. "We just sat on the couch, and he let me cuddle him. I asked if he was alright, and he just nodded slowly. But… I don't know if he was really alright."

Prime considered things carefully, reflecting on the subjects before looking for words to speak to Auri. It seemed as if Praxus was trying to set things right, as it were, with Bumblebee. That _might_ be good; it would be good if it signaled that he had a great deal of trust in the Autobots' mercy. On the downside, it might mean that he carried too much guilt to care what happened to him. Prime hoped that it was trust and not the deadly guilt. Bee's response rather surprised him. Bee always looked to avoid violence and resolve things peacefully. True, Praxus had goaded him into hitting him, but Prime wondered why Bee hadn't stopped after a few blows. He didn't blame Bee, though.

He focused on Auri. He knew that she and Bee were very close friends. And he understood that she and Praxus were friends. It would be stressful for her if two of her friends didn't get along.

"Are you concerned that they will fight?" Prime asked.

Auri looked conflicted. "A tiny bit, but not really." She said, "I'm… I'm afraid that Bee will feel too bad about hitting Praxus and get depressed about his behavior. And…" her voice got softer, "I'm… afraid that Praxus will let himself be bullied. He said he let Jolt yell at him the other day. I don't want him to let everybody with a grudge stomp on him. It wouldn't be good for him."

Prime shook his head gently. "No, it would not. And both of those fears seem fairly valid. However, Bumblebee is not one to stay sad long. Just watch him; see if he does not perk up in a few days. If he does not, then I can talk to him. As for Praxus… I am not wholly certain what to tell you, for I hardly know him. Ratchet might be a better one to talk to regarding Praxus."

Auri lowered a wing. "I already tried to. He said that Praxus would be fine… that he was tough as well as sharp and had enough sense to know when to let someone let off steam and when to stand up to them."

"That sounds like a good answer, Auri."

Auri looked conflicted. "Sometimes I think Ratchet sugarcoats stuff so I won't worry."

Prime repressed a gentle chuckle. "Dear Auri. Perhaps he does, but Praxus is a Praxian, and every Praxians that I have met has been tough and sharp."

"I'm not." Auri said, giving Prime a skeptical look.

"Perhaps not as tough as Praxus and not as sharp as Prowl, but you are tougher and sharper than you think you are. And you have a bit to grow yet. If Ratchet says Praxus will be fine, then Praxus will be fine. And besides, all living things have the instinct of self-preservation."

"He wanted to die when he first came, though!" Auri looked a little disconcerted.

"Only because he was so close to death and thought he had no hope. " Prime reassured her. "He is healthy now and has a great deal of hope and potential."

"That is true." Auri said, looking down a little. Then she looked at Prime and gave him a smile. Everything was resolved now. "Thank-you, Prime."

"You are welcome." He said sincerely.

OoOoOoOoO

(Day twenty-three after Soundwave's arrival; ten after Praxus's)

Ratchet frowned a little and said 'hmmnm…' quietly.

"Well?" Praxus asked, squirming just a little. He was lying on his back on the scanning-table, and he didn't find it particularly comfortable. Ratchet had told him that he needed to do some follow-up scans, and now the medic was saying 'hmmmnm' in a manner that wasn't especially encouraging.

"This one's come back positive." Ratchet said, studying the readout.

"Positive is good, right?"

"Not always, Praxus." Ratchet said, trying to decide whether he should grimace or chuckle at that question. "Not now. In very simple sparkling terms, 'positive' means 'yes,' so when I 'asked' the scanner if you had a virus, it said 'yes.' You have a virus that's just starting up."

Praxus made a face. "I always get them too easily. I always have."

"That is typical for an offspring of a flyer and a grounder." Ratchet stated. "There's a slight incompatibility in the codes that usually causes a slightly weakened immune-system. You just need proper nutrients and supplements and enough food, and your immune-system will function just fine. It's when the rest of your body isn't taken care of well enough that the weakened immune-system shows up. Of course, malnourishment will cause a weakened immune-system in anybody, but it's worse in mix-breeds."

"Oh. Okay."

"We're done here. Let's go in the main room, and I'll take care of this virus."

They went, and Praxus sat on a berth to wait while Ratchet messed around in the special storage unit to get whatever it was that would take care of the virus. Praxus really didn't know. He trusted Ratchet, though. He hummed a song quietly and kicked his pedes lazily.

Ratchet came back with an injector.

The humming stopped and so did the lazy kicking. Praxus froze, and his optics widened behind his visor. "Huh-uh." He said, staring at the injector.

Ratchet raised an optic-ridge. "You told me you were fine with needles."

"I _am_ fine with needles. I'm _not_ fine with injections." Praxus said, his wings flaring a bit.

Ratchet shook his head. "This won't hurt any more than that needle I stuck in you when you first came."

"I don't want an injection, Ratchet."

"That's how we get the anti-virus in you, Praxus."

"I don't want an injectionnn!" He drew out the 'n' and showed his fangs with it.

"Prax,"

"I don't want an injection!"

"It's-"

"No-oh-ooooooo!" Praxus howled, scrambling off the berth, putting it between him and Ratchet.

"Let's ta-"

"NO! I don't want an injection! I don't! I don't!"

"Pr-"

"I WON'T!" Praxus ran and climbed onto the countertop to hiss at Ratchet.

"Um…" Ratchet eyed him curiously, wondering why he had chosen that route. Most door-wingers who ran from him tried to hide in small down-low places. Perhaps, Ratchet thought, perhaps it was a slight manifestation of the jet code in him that made him try to seek refuge in a higher up place.

Praxus growled at him, baring his fangs.

Ratchet stood where he was and considered his options. He could go over to Praxus. In which case Praxus would either run away, or bite him and then run away, or bite him and then glitch out. Considering that the chances of getting bitten were pretty significant, (67%, rounded), Ratchet decided that he probably didn't want to try that. He could try talking Praxus down from where he stood, but thus far, Praxus had interrupted him every time he'd started to speak. Ratchet could see that continuing until he got mad at Praxus and then things would go rather badly from there.

The other option was to call for backup, and there weren't very many options there. First Aid was off-duty, and Ratchet seriously didn't want to interrupt his junior medic's down-time. Jolt was out at one of the other bases. Prowl would only make things worse. Prime was out of the question. Elita was out of the question as well. Auri… Ratchet highly doubted Auri would be able to be much of a help. Ironhide was trapped in a meeting, and while Ratchet knew Ironhide would absolutely love a reason to leave, he also knew it was an important meeting that Ironhide couldn't leave unless something extremely bad was happening.

Ratchet drummed his finger on the berth. Was there anybody else? Bumblebee… no. Things were healing between Bumblebee and Praxus, and Ratchet didn't want to upset them.

Chromia…

Ratchet told himself that he was insane to even consider asking Chromia to help him with Praxus. Yet, Praxus had told him yesterday evening about how Chromia treated him and talked to him, and from what Praxus had said, Ratchet could tell that Chromia liked him and cared for him. Ironhide had commented to Ratchet as well that Praxus had somehow found a place in the tough femme's spark.

Ratchet hesitated a long while then reluctantly –and fearfully- intercommed Chromia.

::Hey, Chromia. I… I rather need a little help. Praxus needs an antivirus injection, but he completely freaked out when he saw the injector and isn't about to let me near him or even speak to him. I could use a little backup if you'd be willing.::

::Sure, Ratchet. I'll be there in nine.:: came the reply, and Ratchet felt partially relieved and partially stressed. If things went badly… he didn't want to think about it.

Chromia came sauntering into Med-Bay roughly nine minutes later, and Praxus was still up on the counter.

"Chromia-!" he cried. He dropped down and ran over to her. He didn't touch her, but he lowered his helm and wings and hid from Ratchet behind her shoulder. "Don't let him inject me…!" he begged. "Please? Oh, please!"

"Sweets," Chromia said slowly, "What do you think the injection's gonna do?"

"I don't know…" Praxus whimpered. "Shockwave's injections hurt and made me sick and feel bad and see things and not think straight."

"Do you think Ratchet would do that to you?"

Praxus hesitated then looked over at Ratchet, processing things. Now that Chromia was there to 'guard' him, his defensive programs eased up and his logic got back into place. Praxus shook his head slowly. "No… ma'am… I… guess… not…" he said uncertainly.

"You _guess_ not?" Chromia said, "Sparkles, Ratchet is our best medic, and he's our best medic for a reason. He wouldn't intentionally hurt any one of us. Ever. Hasn't he taken great care of you this past week and some-odd days?"

"He has." Praxus mumbled, helm lowered.

"So?" she said expectantly.

"Mmm… umm…"

"Don't make me smack some sense into you, sweet cheeks. The injection ain't gonna hurt you."

Praxus cringed a little at Chromia's mention of smacking him, but Ratchet noticed that Praxus didn't move away from her.

"Go take it." Chromia told Praxus.

He lowered his wings but shuffled over to Ratchet. Ratchet readied the injector, Praxus watching with a troubled look on his face.

"I don't…" Praxus said in a little voice.

"Oh, for mercy's sake!" Ratchet burst out suddenly. Praxus was driving him insane.

"You want me to do it?" Chromia asked Praxus. Ratchet looked completely incredulous.

Praxus paused, looking guarded. Then he shrugged minutely. "That… I guess would be okay."

Chromia turned to Ratchet, as did Praxus, and they found him rubbing his mouth. He eyed them as one might eye two crazy bots.

"Praxus," he said, "Chromia's never injected anybody before."

Praxus looked sideways to Chromia. "Is… that okay?" he asked.

Ratchet smacked a palm to his forehead. "Aye! Yi! Yi! It's only going to hurt a whole lot more because she's not going to do it as well as I would! Nevermind that! You're both glitched in the head! Here's the injector, Chromia. Praxus, turn around. Chromia, do you even _want_ directions on _how_ to inject?"

Chromia chuckled. "Yes, Ratchet." She said, "I think Praxus would appreciate it if you told me where precisely and how."

Ratchet huffed at her and Praxus. "Alright." He said. Then he explained what she'd need to do. Praxus listened and decided that he'd overacted a bit. He also decided that it would be alright if Ratchet did the injection. In fact… he felt it might go better if Ratchet did the injection.

"Ratchet…" he said, looking over his wing at the medic and Chromia, "I… um… it's fine if you do it."

Ratchet set his fists on his hips. "After _all_ that, you change your mind?"

"Uh… huh… yes?"

Ratchet shook his head in disbelief. "I have no idea why I put up with you." He said and took the injector from Chromia.

The injection was done in a matter of seconds with hardly any physical pain.

"There." Ratchet said, "Now do you feel completely silly for having stirred up such a fuss?"

"Yes, Ratchet." Praxus said meekly. He did a little, but mostly he just realized that he'd aggravated Ratchet rather badly and Ratchet needed to know that it hadn't been for nothing. "I won't act up so badly next time." he promised, disengaging his visor so he could give the medic a serious look.

"You'd better not." Ratchet said, but Praxus could tell that he'd pacified the medic from the gentleness that had seeped into his tone.

"Guess my work's done for the day." Chromia said, smiling, a bit of a conspiring twinkle in her optics.

Ratchet paused. "Wait…" he said, "You were figuring that Praxus would change his mind once I started explaining, weren't you."

Chromia chuckled. "You bet I was. I would have gone through with it if he hadn't changed his mind, but it was my intention that he do so."

"You played me?" Praxus asked, blinking at Chromia.

"Just a little." Chromia said, rubbing one of his wings lightly. "And only because I thought it would be helpful for you."

"Oh."

"Yep." She said, "My Praxcrycan." She added, and that made Praxus's spark feel immensely warm and cozy. "Hey, I love the no-visor look. I like those optics of yours."

Praxus looked down, feeling shy. He loved the compliment, though. He was finding that he really liked compliments.

"But, even the purple visor is dashing, so don't worry. Either way is fine. I just like the optics."

He peeked up at her and gave her a shy little grin. She grinned back.

Then she gave a jerk and gasped with horrified revulsion. Soundwave was standing in the doorway. Chromia grabbed her midsection with one hand and clamped the other over her mouth as she started to back away. Then she shuddered violently and bolted to the sink.

Praxus winced in sympathy as she lost her last meal, and Ratchet went over to her quickly.

"Chromia, femme," he chided gently, putting a hand on her.

"No-" she choked out as she clung weakly to the countertop, "I'm going- not staying in here-"

"We'll go in the courtyard, but I need to check you."

"No, Ratchet, da-… oh, whatever." She gave in as her body started to shake.

Ratchet gently put an arm around her and lifted her, carrying her out to the courtyard. Praxus followed close behind.

In the courtyard, Ratchet gently laid Chromia down on one of the lounges and rested a hand on her neck. "You stay put." He said softly, "I've got to get another one of my scanners, alright?"

Chromia nodded.

"Okay." Ratchet turned and nearly tripped over Praxus, "You stay with her."

"Yes, sir." Praxus nodded, his expression worried.

Ratchet left. The doors closed.

"Stay put? Like hell I will!" Chromia spat, dragging herself up. "Ngh!" she stumbled to her feet and headed unsteadily for the wall with the barred window. Praxus followed cautiously.

"Chromia…" he said uncertainly, "Sh-shouldn't you stay? Don't you need to be scanned?"

"I know exactly what's wrong." Chromia choked out, "I don't need Ratchet to tell me." She doubled over for a second.

"But he could make you feel better."

"No. He couldn't." she gripped the bars with tears in her optics. "Not this time. Not for this. Give me a step up, Prax."

"I don't think I should…"

"Praxus." She was shaking awfully. "I need to go home… my quarters." She actually sounded like she might cry.

Praxus bit his lip and looked towards the doors for a couple seconds, but they didn't open. He lowered his helm then knelt by the barred window. Chromia stepped on his knee and had a pede on his shoulder for a second, and then she was atop the wall.

She dropped down quickly and put a hand on the wall to steady herself for a moment before hurrying away on unsteady pedes.

Praxus watched through the bars. He probably shouldn't have helped her escape, he realized. Ratchet would be mad.

Praxus bit his lip as Chromia disappeared from his sight, and he felt significantly more distressed. She wasn't well, and there was nobody with her. And it was all his fault because she'd come to Med-Bay to help him.

He scrambled up the wall quickly then dropped down outside and sprinted to catch up with Chromia.

"Praxus…"

"Ratchet told me to stay with you, remember?" he said, having just remembered that himself.

Chromia chuckled weakly then clutched a light-pole.

"Here," Praxus carefully put an arm around her back, just above her waist a bit, and she leaned on him. Then they went slowly down the road, Praxus supporting Chromia's weight and steadying her.

They turned a corner, and Praxus kept her from falling when she tripped on the curb. For a couple blocks, they went on undisturbed, but Praxus noticed that humans would stop and look at them for a couple moments before going back to whatever humans did.

Then a Jeep with two humans pulled up.

"_Hey_," The passenger called to them in English. "_Is everything alright?"_

Praxus knew what the thing was asking, for Auri had given him the English data-chip. But… he didn't really want to communicate with a strange little organism. He decided to pretend that he couldn't understand.

He growled dangerously and bared fangs with a threatening hiss.

"_Okay. We'll just move along._" The human said in a placating tone, and then they drove away as the human picked up a small device.

"Are you doing better or worse?" Praxus asked Chromia softly as she tightened her fingers on his shoulder.

"Worse…" she said.

"How much farther do we have?"

"Da… I don't know." She said miserably, "I just know how to get there."

"Okay." Praxus said, but he was afraid that they might get lost.

"Turn here. Left."

They turned left and stumbled on a bit more, and then Praxus faltered as Prowl came into view. It had hurt pretty badly the other day when Prowl had listed all the wrong things he'd done unintentionally on the streets. It'd been like a whipping, cutting and painful, only with words instead of a whip. Praxus wanted to run back to Med-Bay and hide, but he couldn't abandon Chromia. He had to look after her even if it meant getting another tongue-lashing from Prowl.

"What are you stoppin' for?" Chromia asked, resting her helm on his shoulder.

Praxus swallowed. "Prowl's here, ma'am."

Chromia shifted her helm and eyed Prowl with slightly unfocused optics. They stood there a couple moments facing a silent Prowl, and it seemed to Praxus that Chromia got heavier and heavier every few seconds.

Chromia spoke then. "If you try to take me back to Med-Bay, I'll bust your aft into so many pieces, Ratch'll have to consult his anatomy data-pads to figure out how to fix it."

Praxus saw one of Prowl's optic-ridges lift ever so slightly in an expression of dubiousness, but Prowl nodded in a serious manner.

"Yes, ma'am." Prowl said. "Are you heading to your quarters then?"

"Uh-huh."

"I will accompany you." Prowl said. He went to her other side and put an arm around her, getting her to shift some of her weight off Praxus. Praxus felt a tiny bit better then. Prowl would be strong enough to catch Chromia if she fell, and Prowl would know just how to get to Chromia's quarters.

They went on a little more quickly now that Prowl was there to support Chromia and guide their route, and Praxus quit fearing the curbs that Chromia tripped on because Prowl was on her other side to help her.

She sank to her knees at one point, though, uttering a cry of pain as Prowl pulled her up. "Ngh-! Hurts-!" she cried through gritted teeth.

"We are almost there, Chromia," Prowl said, pulling on her.

"I- I just-"

"No." Prowl said quietly but firmly, "We are getting you to your quarters and then you can collapse. Come on."

"Can't… I can't!" she nearly dragged the two Praxians down. Praxus hissed softly without meaning to, expressing some fear.

"Yes, you can." Prowl said, "I have never known you to quit or give up. You are one of our toughest, so it would be a shame to quit two blocks from your door."

"Two blocks." Chromia groaned in agony. "Two… I can't… I just…" she didn't finish the sentence.

"Are you saying you are a weakling?" Prowl asked,

Chromia swore at him, and Praxus felt her tighten her grip on his shoulder and work to stand up. "I'm not."

"So, two blocks?"

"Two blocks." She growled, getting to her pedes.

Praxus decided that he was quite scared and too scared to do anything besides what he had to do. Prowl had just made Chromia mad so she would walk two more blocks. It was like Prowl would stop at nothing.

They went three blocks, and then there was a door that Prowl opened.

"You liar, Prowlie," Chromia said as the Praxians helped her through the door.

"I apologize for that." Prowl said gently, "I could not think of anything else, though." He sounded genuinely contrite and a little ashamed of himself.

"S'okay." Chromia said. "Couch…"

Prowl nodded, and they helped her to the couch. She collapsed there with a groan. Then she grabbed the pillow and bite down on it hard, muffling a scream of pain.

Praxus hissed and stepped backwards several steps. Prowl shot him a wary look then turned back to Chromia.

"Ratchet will come fairly soon. He commed me that Soundwave-"

"NGLAH!" Chromia choked and writhed. Prowl stepped back involuntarily, expecting her to vomit, but there was nothing left in her tank to purge.

"Needed attention more seriously than any femme who'd climb a wall with a Praxian and run away." Prowl had to finish his sentence. He just couldn't leave sentences hanging.

"Thanks for the info." Chromia gasped sarcastically, trying to find a position that was at least partially comfortable. She kicked and squirmed and clutched at her middle and swore a little then stuffed her face against the pillow.

Prowl watched with concern. "Is there-"

"I WANT HIGH-GRADE!" she screamed at him. He flinched, and Praxus cringed and ran to the other side of the room.

Prowl shook his head with regret. "I cannot-"

She swore at him. He took it calmly, but his optics strayed to Praxus as Praxus pressed hard against a corner, helm down.

"I do have painkillers I can administer."

"WELL FRAGGING ADMINISTER THEM!"

"Y-yes, ma'am." Prowl said firmly. His tank was starting to churn a little, though. They were injection painkillers. He carried them, but he never used them. They'd been needed a few times, but he'd always gotten other bots to administer them while he looked away. There was nobody here but Praxus. He glanced at Praxus. He wouldn't be able to put in injector in a Decepticon's hands. Praxus didn't look like he would be helpful anyway. If anything, Praxus would be needing a sedative shot. He was shaking like a caged Seeker and pacing so close to the wall that his wings almost touched it. If there had been a window, he would have broken it and run.

Prowl got out the injector, closed his optics, focused on Auri's words, and fitted a needle device into the injector with his optics still closed. Then he moved it behind his back and opened his optics.

"Chromia," he said, placing a hand on the writhing femme's shoulder. "I will not be able to do this with you shifting around like this. I need you to be still."

"I can't." Chromia cried through her teeth, "And I really mean it this time. Aighhh!"

Prowl gusted a little air through his cooling system and looked back at Praxus. Praxus was standing still now, watching them. Prowl's optics met Praxus's visor, and he saw Praxus firm his wings a little.

"Can you be a help?" Prowl asked him grimly.

Praxus nodded.

Chromia screamed profanely for him to "be a help already!" adding more bad words.

Prowl motioned him over, and he came cautiously.

"Chromia, I know you will not like this," Prowl said, "But I am going to have Praxus kneel astride your back and put his weight on his hands on your shoulders."

She swore at him, and the extent of it was that she didn't care what they did as long they did it. Prowl shifted a door-wing uneasily at her word-choice then looked over at Praxus.

Praxus swallowed. "I-I'd-d-d r-r-rather-r… I-I m-mean I c-could-d d-do th-the sh-shot."

"Hah-!" Prowl was so unnerved at the suggestion of putting a needle in the hands of a Decepticon that he laughed, "No." he said. "Go on."

Praxus steeled himself and got on the couch with Chromia, kneeling as Prowl had said and placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Now," Prowl said, "Put your weight on her shoulders, and do not let her move. Ratchet _will_ have us if we mess up."

Praxus nodded and did as directed. He felt M-Y sniffing a little curiously as the femme fought the pressure he put on her. Fear. Fear. Fear. M-Y loved fear. Fear was its fuel, its food, its life source. This femme was afraid. Praxus was afraid. Even Prowl was afraid. The fear was ripe for harvest. M-Y licked its lips.

"I have friends." Praxus whispered to himself, "I have friends. I'm helping my friends right now. There is no fear of them. I- knnnnn… knnnnn…"

"Done." Prowl said, "Get off." He ordered. It was almost as if he knew M-Y was thinking.

Praxus got off in a second and fell on his rump on the floor. He gasped to circulate cool air through his system. That had been close. He felt sick. He'd nearly glitched out there. He _hadn't_ glitched out, though, and that was a good thing. He looked back at Chromia. She was shaking, but she was no longer writhing in pain. He crawled around Prowl and knelt beside Chromia's shoulder.

"Is it a little better?" he asked softly.

Chromia's optics were unfocused, but a weak smile touched her lips. "Yeah." She said softly, "Just a little. Thanks."

Praxus hesitated and then cautiously rested his helm against hers. "It's my fault you got sick…" he said in a little voice, "I'm sorry."

"Is not your fault. I coulda won… uh… wan…wandered into Med-Bay at the wrong time anytime." She told him. "Oh, where the h-l is Ironhide? I intercommed the mech like ten f-"

"Sh-sh," Praxus hushed, "It's okay. He'll come as soon as he can."

"Well, where the-"

"Sh! I don't know. Maybe Prowl knows."

"Prowulllll!" she got mad at Prowl.

"He is trying to get out of a meeting, Chromia." Prowl said patiently. "He will be here as soon as he can."

"I want him!"

"He will come."

"I WANT HIM GLITCHING NOW!" she screamed into her pillow.

Praxus retreated.

"I need him…" she whimpered.

"I know you do." Prowl said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know you do, and he knows you do. He will come as soon as he can."

Praxus gave a sharp hiss of fear when the door opened, but then he saw that it was Auri and he lowered his defenses.

"Chromia-!" Auri cried softly, going to her femme-guardian and embracing her. "What happened?"

"Hi," Chromia murmured, shifting to her side and weakly pulling Auri to snuggle beside her. "I got sick when I saw… I went into Med-Bay and he came into the room. I lost… my lunch. Too much stress, sparklet. Too much stress connected there. Oh… oh, I love you."

Auri nuzzled her femme-guardian gently. "I love you, too, My-Chromia." She said, and then she turned her attention to Prowl. "Ratchet is coming?" she asked.

"Yes." Prowl said.

Ratchet came a couple minutes later, and Ironhide was on his heels.

"Ironhide-!" Chromia cried.

Ironhide hurried over to his femme as Ratchet paused to look at the Praxians. Auri slipped away so Ironhide could sit on the couch with Chromia.

"I will chastise you later for running away like that." Ratchet said grimly to Chromia as he motioned Ironhide to scoot a little. "Hold your arm out so I can take a life-En sample."

Prowl looked edgy and hurried to the other side of the room. He stopped when he realized that Praxus was there as well. He also realized that the room wasn't a really big one. And Praxus was looking edgy as well.

"Aih! Where'd this come from?" Ratchet asked sternly.

"I don't know." Auri replied innocently. Prowl didn't dare turn around for fear of seeing Ratchet with an injector. Facing Praxus, though, he saw Praxus look a little uneasy. Praxus shifted his wings.

"S-sir," Praxus said, looking ready to run away despite having nowhere to run, "That… Prowl… used and injected painkillers."

Chromia chuckled weakly and drily. "Id was hilarious." she said, sounding unwell, "Prowl with his fear of needles wielded the injector with his optics shut, and Praxus with his fear of injections held me still. Imma laugh so, so, so much when I feel better."

"You Praxians." Ratchet said with a slight shake of his head.

"We just do what has to be done." Auri said earnestly, gently defending her kindred.

"Well, right now, you all are a mini plague that I need out of here, so go outside, all of you."

"Yes, sir." Auri said and made her way to the door obediently. Praxus slipped over and met her there.

Prowl felt just slightly insulted about being kicked out with Auri and Praxus like he had no rank or anything, but he knew that he needed to be out of the room. He was the last one out, so he closed the door.

"What's wrong with her?" Auri asked him in a little voice.

"Stress." Prowl said gently, "As she said, the stress made her sick."

"But, neither of _us_ get sick when we get stressed." Auri said, her brow furrowing a little in confusion.

"Stress affects each of us differently." Prowl said, his optics on her face, watching with tenderness each little change in her expression. "And different levels of stress affect us differently. I have noticed that when you are a little stressed, you become more insecure and tend to want more feedback from me, and when you are rather stressed, you become cranky and petulant. Were you to be severely stressed, you would _probably_ become very upset about many things and would not recharge well. And that would lead to physical problems. When I am stressed, I become more controlling and less tolerant. When Ironhide gets stressed, he gets verbal and physical. When Ratchet gets stressed, he gets cross and grumbling, complains at others. Each of us responds differently. For Chromia, severe stress makes her sick."

"But why so sick that she needs painkillers? I don't understand that, Prowl." She argued softly,

"We are marvelously complex on many levels." Prowl said in almost a murmur. His spark was tugging at him to quit standing so far away, and his logic core was rebuking him for not saying what he meant. _She_, Auri, was marvelous complex on many levels. _That_ was what he was thinking about. They had been working in the office only an hour ago, and she'd been on the phone with a difficult liaison. She'd done better with the man than Prowl could have, for Prowl spoke with a firm and sometimes harsh tone that humans often wanted to fight, and when they started fighting, it got his defense systems up. He didn't yield. Auri, though, knew how to talk in a little voice and use her innocent tone and soft inflections to melt humans. He always marveled at how she could talk a wide-eyed little femlet that but still maintain a tone of efficiency and smartness. She was the quintessential office assistant, efficient and everything. Yet, now she was a youngling, confused and lost in the big world where grown-up bots got sick without her understanding why.

He looked away a little. He just wanted to hold her and make the bad things go away.

_I'll hold you in my arms,  
And melt the sorrows cold,  
I'll warm you with my spark, Love,  
And keep you safe and sound. _

_I'll give you my protection,  
And chase away the bad,  
I'll stay with you when things are hard,  
And never leave your side… _

There were more verses to that song, but he made himself stop thinking about it, feeling a little pain as he reminded himself that he'd told himself 'no' in regards to Auri. No. No. No, Prowl. No. It wasn't time. It might be time later, sometime in the future after things had calmed down with the Soundwave mess, but it wasn't time now.

_TELL THAT TO YOUR MELTING SPARK! _

Prowl wondered at his logic sometimes, and why it wasn't as calming anymore. Now, for instance, the silly thing was telling him that feelings were a normal function of a Cybertronian, and therefore they should be expressed.

"Maybe we could sit." Auri said uncertainly.

Prowl looked her again and found her hitching up her wings a little. "If you would like that, we may." He said gently.

She nodded then sat down on the curb, putting her pedes on the pavement. Praxus was sitting beside her in a couple seconds, sitting so close that their wings could brush a little. It seemed as if he was almost huddling against her. She put an arm around his back, and Prowl felt something crawl up his own back. He analyzed it. It was dark-greenish and slithery and not very pleasant. It was called "jealousy."

Jealous!? Prowl wondered at that, but then he knew deep in his spark that he did have jealousy in him. At least a little bit, and all stemming from fear. He was afraid that Auri would like Praxus better and leave him, Prowl, alone. In a rush, then, he realized that he was jealous over Ratchet, too. Ratchet was making a pet out of Praxus, but Prowl had been his pet door-winger for _ages_. True, he always acted like he hated being treated like a sparkling, and he did, but he didn't want some other Praxian mech getting that special treatment. Oh, and Chromia…! Aigh! Chromia liked him, Prowl, more than any other mech except Ironhide, and now she was calling Praxus by endearments. He felt frustrated with himself. He hated it when Chromia called him things, but… but… oh, he wasn't logical at all.

"Stop scowling at that lamppost and sit with us, Prowl." Auri said, looking up at him.

Prowl looked down at her, feeling all his awful feelings of conflicted love and adoration. He nodded then sat beside her.

And I mean he sat _right_ beside her, door-wing brushing, shoulder-nudging _right_ beside her. She looked at him, looking a little surprised, but just a little bit delighted, almost secretly delighted. It felt a little odd to have just one arm around one mech when two were sitting with her, though, so she had to decide if she was going to put an arm around Prowl, or if she was going to let go of Praxus. She doubted Prowl would want her to embrace him in the street, so she opted to let go of Praxus. She had to do _that_ carefully, though, so she wouldn't hurt his feelings.

She rubbed his back a little and then slipped her hand away, saying, "I have a game we can play."

Prowl felt his lips want something. No, Prowl, he reminded himself.

Auri pulled out her data-pad and a stylus. "Everybody needs a stylus. Now, see this grid of dots? We each take a turn, and draw one line to connect two dots. Whoever draws the fourth line to complete a box gets to put his or her mark in the box. Okay?"

"Okay." Prowl said.

Praxus nodded.

Auri drew the first line the passed the data-pad to Praxus. Praxus hesitated, paused, and faltered.

"It's just a game, Praxus," Auri said gently, "It doesn't matter where you draw a line or even if you win. It's not about winning. It's just to pass the time."

Praxus looked at her pensively for a moment then looked down at the grid of dots again. Then he drew a line with a great deal of caution.

"There you go." Auri encouraged him. He gave the data-pad back to her, and she passed it to Prowl. Prowl drew a line with no hesitation. Then Auri drew a line. Then Praxus drew a line. Then Prowl drew a line. Then Auri. Then Praxus.

Then Prowl closed a box, and Praxus made a sound of confused betrayal. Prowl had closed the box that Praxus had been making. It wasn't _fair_. Praxus had drawn his three lines each touching, intending to make a box, but Prowl had _stolen_ it from him, drawing the last line and putting his name in the box. It hurt. It was confusing.

"Oops…!" Auri said lightly, "That happens sometimes." She explained gently, "That's why I just draw my lines at random. Anybody can close any box they want to, so, that's how it goes."

Praxus calmed himself as he realized that he'd been thinking like a sparkling again and lowered his helm; he should have realized that every uncompleted box was fair game. "I got it." He said.

Auri drew a line and closed Prowl's box. Prowl had mimicked Praxus for some reason and drawn three sides of the same box as well. She wasn't sure why he'd done that, but she decided that he'd done it to trick Praxus and get the first box. Whoever got the first box got bonus points. It wasn't a nice tactic, but she knew Prowl didn't usually play nice. He played to win.

They played on and on, and Auri repressed a number of giggles at just how competitive Prowl and Praxus were. She partially considered just stepping out of the game and watching them fight each other for it, but she knew she wouldn't do that to them. They might get upset. Prowl didn't seem to like Praxus, and Praxus was clearly afraid of Prowl. They wouldn't get anywhere near each other unless she was involved and between them. She was the buffer.

OoOoOoOoO

"Stress, my aft!" Ratchet objected, looking up from his scanner with a look of shocked confusion. "These are drug withdrawal readings. Chromia? What have you been doing?"

"Nothing." Chromia said dully, barely looking up at him from where she sat on Ironhide's lap. Ironhide was holding her because she desperately needed him to. "Nothing for a long… long… time. I used to do trilph before I met Elita."

"Trilph?" Ratchet's tone was one of disbelieving horror. He knew trilph. He'd had patients _die_ from trilph withdrawal. "Chromia? You did trilph?"

"Yeah. You wanna know who got me my first dose?"

"Does it matter?" Ratchet didn't see why it would matter.

Chromia looked up at him with morose optics. "Someone who eventually changed his name to Soundwave." She said.

Then Ratchet felt like his optics would glitch if they got any wider. "S-Sss… in- my- Med-Bay? That Soundwave?"

Chromia nodded.

Ratchet shot a look at Ironhide and found the weapons specialist wearing a very, _very_ ugly look on his face. He looked sick, and he looked furious, and he looked like he would go dismember Soundwave if he could.

"That..." Ratchet was at a loss for anything to say. He felt like there were too many things connected and too many things going on and too much was overwhelming. He wondered if this was what Prowl felt like before glitching out. If so, he didn't blame Prowl for glitching out at times… because… this. Was. Awful.

He cleared his vocal processor. Then he ran his hands over his helm. "Okay…" he said, trying to get himself to think again. "Alright…" he paced a little then came back to Chromia. "You got through trilph withdrawal before."

Chromia nodded loosely. Ratchet had given her painkillers on top of Prowl's general painkillers, plus a mild sedative. She didn't feel bad now, but she didn't feel good, and she wasn't overly coordinated.

"Okay." Ratchet said, "Okay… So, as soon as you can, now if possible, but I understand… understand, um, if not, I need to you to tell me or write down how you got through the withdrawal, what the medics did for you, what you ate or something, or what… what… I don't know. Any information that I can use to help you get through … through… anything that… that… you might go… go through."

"Pull yourself together, Ratchet." Ironhide said, his tone dangerously soft and silky, his optics cutting like deadly blue diamonds. It made Ratchet's system run cold. "Why don't you check on the Praxians."

Ratchet nodded and went over to the door. He accessed the little security monitor, and it showed him a live feed of what was going on right outside the door. He smiled despite the frozen and sick feeling that had taken up residence in his midriff workings.

"They're fine." He said, his voice sounding strained and strangled but a little amused, "They're sitting on the curb, all three, Auri in the middle, and they're passing a data-pad around in some sort of game."

"Ohwwww, I wanna see," Chromia begged, sounding a little miserable. Ironhide got up, taking her in his arms, and carried her over to the door. She started to cry softly when she saw the door-wingers. "They're so cute," she said, sniffling. Ironhide carried her back to the couch. "SO cute, I wanna pinch them all." She said, wiping her optics. Then she laughed softly. "I'm sure they wouldn't like that. At least not the mechs."

Ratchet shook his head gently. "No, not the mechs." He said with a bit of a smile. "Auri would giggle and tickle you in return, but Prowl would get indignant, and Praxus would panic."

"I love them all so much…" Chromia whimpered.

"I know," Ironhide said softly to her.

"What are we gonna tell them?" she asked, hiding her tears against his shoulder. "I don't want them to know about the drugs or Soundwave and me."

"We won't tell them that then." Ironhide promised. "We can just tell them that it's because of stress."

"They're smart little things." Chromia murmured with a sniffle, "They'll know there's more. They're uncanny little beings. So small, but with such big sparks."

"We could tell them that it's a virus." Ratchet offered quietly. "The symptoms match some virus symptoms."

"Okay." Chromia said with a sigh, "We'll tell them it's a virus. Not threatening, but painful and nauseating."

Ratchet nodded. "Alright. Do you want me to tell them?"

"Yeah." Chromia said, looking a little sicker. "Something's wearing off…" she tightened her fingers on Ironhide's shoulder.

Ratchet swept a scan over her. "That would be the generalized painkiller. And we can't administer that again for another hour and… twenty minutes."

Chromia cursed quietly. "High-grade?"

"No. Especially _not_ with that sedative I gave you."

"Blast… blast 'n' shoot! I need… need to be drunk!"

"Chromia, unless we take you back to Med-Bay and-"

"No! Not going back there."

"Then you'll just have to cope with it somehow until the time is up."

"High-grade…"

"I said no. Ironhide, make sure she doesn't get a drop of any Energon above regular-grade, or she will get very, _very_ sick."

"I understand, Ratchet." Ironhide said. Chromia started to cry a little, but Ironhide kissed her neck and rubbed her back. "We'll get you through this, 'Mia." He promised.

Ratchet wrote a few instructions on a data-pad and gave them to Ironhide, who looked them over and nodded.

"I'll be going now." Ratchet said, "I'll come back, though, when it's time for another shot of painkillers."

"Intercom beforehand." Ironhide said.

"Will do." Ratchet said. "Anything else?"

"Send the door-wingers away for now."

"Alright. Take care." Ratchet said, and then he left. He slipped out the door and closed it quickly then checked to make sure that it had locked. It had. And an extra remote lock had been added on top of the usual one. Auri wouldn't be getting in with her usual pass-code.

He turned around and found the three Praxians on their pedes, standing in a little semi-circle around him, optics boring into him. They were like street urchins, surrounding him and begging for tidbits.

"She's just got a virus." He told them, "It's not threatening, she'll be fine, but it's making her feel pretty bad right now. And nauseous, too. She wants to be alone with Ironhide for now, so no visiting. All of you will have to scatter and go do other things. Praxus, you're coming back to Med-Bay with me, of course."

"Can we finish our game?" Auri asked. If Chromia was going to be fine and she couldn't visit her, then there was no point in fussing around about it.

Ratchet looked flabbergasted but nodded that they could. He watched as they continued the game while standing. Praxus, he noticed, didn't hand the pad to Prowl, who would go after him, but to Auri, who would hand the pad to Prowl.

After a few minutes, "There." Prowl said and handed the data-pad to Auri.

Auri surveyed the data-pad, and Praxus looked it over as well. Prowl, Ratchet noticed, simply looked at Auri's face.

"I believe you've won." Auri said, smiling at him with twinkling optics. "And I can't say I'm surprised. Well played."

Prowl lowered his helm a little in acknowledgement. "Thank-you." He said. "You were a good opponent."

"Thank-you." Auri turned her attention to Praxus, "You played well, too. Very well for your first time."

Praxus lowered his helm, copying Prowl. "Thank-you." He said, "Perhaps we may play again sometime?"

"That would be fun." Auri said. "Maybe this afternoon when I visit, or tomorrow if not."

"Good." Praxus said, optics soft, "I would like that."

Auri looked expectantly to Prowl then. It was Prowl's turn to compliment Praxus. Praxians were always formal about winning, even on the most trivial of games.

"As Auri said," Prowl said, "You played well."

Praxus lowered his helm. "Thank-you, but I am no match for your skill."

Prowl felt like gnashing his teeth at how smoothly Praxus had said that. All too often, he, Prowl, got stuck on words, compliments in particular. And all too often nowadays, Auri would tell him something clever or comical that Praxus had said. It didn't sit very well with the sparkling in Prowl. Prowl reminded himself that he was a grown-up, though. He had to be gracious. Oh, there was also…

He nodded to Praxus. "I owe you thanks for helping me with Chromia. Thank-you for your assistance."

Praxus shifted his wings and mumbled something, and Prowl felt a little better. He also felt worse, though, for his logic picked back up and gave him a disgusted kick. Logic informed him that Praxus was in no way a threat to him in regards to his friends; he was being a foolish brat. He accepted this chastisement and moved on with a resolve to do better in the future.

"We shall go back to our work now." He said to Auri, brushing her arm with his fingertips.

She nodded. She waved to Praxus and Ratchet then hurried to fall into step beside Prowl as he nodded to Ratchet and started up the road.

They walked side by side in companionable silence, the sun friendly on their wings. They were both concerned about Chromia to some degree, but they both trusted Ratchet completely; they knew she would be fine since he said she would be fine. Life would go on.

Auri thought about Chromia, though, reflecting on how often her femme guardian had felt bad in the past three weeks. Chromia always said it stemmed from stress, but Auri had never known her to be bothered by stress. Auri hadn't even ever known her to be stressed. It was only once Soundwave showed up that she got stressed. Auri wasn't sure why that would be stressful, unless Chromia thought Soundwave wanted to take her, Auri, away from her and Ironhide.

She suddenly realized then, that she'd been on patrol when she'd found out that Chromia didn't seem well and that she'd broken it off to check on her dear femme-guardian. She'd forgotten to ask Prowl's permission to take off.

She gave him an upwards concerned glance. "I forgot to ask your permission to break off my patrol to come see Chromia."

Prowl dropped her a gentle look. "That is completely understandable," he said, "And since it was unintentional and not a habit you have, there is no reason for me to chide you. Good?"

"Good." She said, smiling up at him with a smile that made a couple butterflies skip around his spark. He wanted to scoop her up and hug her a bit, but he knew that just wouldn't be acceptable for the time and place or anything. It was a fun thought, though, and it made him laugh softly. She looked up at him again, happy curiosity in her expression. "Why are you laughing, Prowl?" she wanted to be in on the secret so she could laugh with him.

"Laughing helps ease tension," he said, "And it is good to laugh after something stressful,"

"Ahh." That made sense to her. What didn't make sense, though, was why Prowl slowed to a stop.

"But that was not why I was laughing." He added softly, "I laughed because… mmm…" he faltered, looking for words.

_I laughed because… being around you makes me happy. …because your smile makes my spark sing. …because your laughter makes the sun shine. …because your very presence is the most wonderful thing in the world to me. _

"Um…" He couldn't say any of that to her. Things were too delicate at present. He wanted to say it, though, _I laughed because being around you makes me happy_. "I laughed because-"

Praxus dashed around the corner and swerved to avoid them, tearing past with hardly a decrease in speed.

Auri gave a little gasp of surprise, and Prowl felt a little dizzy. Praxus interrupted him… from saying something he wasn't entirely sure he should say.

Auri gave Prowl a questioning look as Praxus continued down the street, wondering why Prowl wasn't in pursuit now.

Prowl hesitated, wondering what words he _should_ say.

Then suddenly he realized that he was Law Enforcement.

"Oh!" his wings flicked upwards. "Excuse me-" he said quickly, and then he darted after Praxus.


	24. Chapter 24

Hellos! I've decided to post on Tuesdays now, instead of Mondays. It's just not going to work for my schedule to post on Mondays. So. Tuesdays will be the new day for updates. ;)

* * *

Chapter 24

They were heading back to Med-Bay.

Praxus dragged his pedes a little as he followed Ratchet and fell farther and farther behind. He didn't want to go back to Med-Bay, an enclosed space where he could be trapped. Ratchet could punish him all too easily there. He didn't know what the punishment was for helping another bot escape Med-Bay against Ratchet's orders, and he was afraid to know. He wanted to run away.

There was a problem, though: Med-bay was the only safe place where he could go, but that's where he'd get punished once he got there. Ratchet was nice enough to not humiliate him with public punishment, but…

Praxus stopped.

He knew better than all that. He knew Ratchet wasn't going to inflict any unfair or unwarranted punishment. He knew Ratchet wouldn't do anything to him that would make him drag his pedes in dread. Why, he realized, Ratchet probably wouldn't even punish him for this little escapade. Of course, Ratchet would chide him, _maybe_ reprimand him, but certainly not chastise him. It might be a little uncomfortable, but it wouldn't hurt. He had nothing to fear.

"What's going on in that Praxian processor of yours?" Ratchet asked, snagging his attention. The medic had stopped and turned partially towards Praxus, his body at a nonthreatening angle as he looked curiously at the door-winger.

"Lots of things." Praxus said, picking up his pedes to hurry and catch up with Ratchet. "But most importantly," he said, coming to a halt before the medic, "Just a little bit of sense."

"Sense?" Ratchet began walking towards Med-Bay again, "In _your_ processor?" he teased gently, giving Praxus's closest wing a light tug.

"Yes." Praxus said, smiling, happy that Ratchet could tease him without it hurting. "I was starting to fret back there because I was afraid of what you would do to me once we got back to Med-Bay. But, then I stopped and realized that… well, I don't need to be afraid of you. I need to respect you, of course, but I don't need to have that panic-inducing fear."

Ratchet looked sideways at Praxus with the soft look of pride belonging to a guardian whose youngling has achieved a step towards maturity.

"I'm glad you've come to realize that, Praxus." He said, his spark warm with the victory of trust.

Praxus smiled a little shyly then. "I'm glad, too."

They walked on another block, and then Ratchet slowed to a stop. "Hey, Praxus. I've got someone covering Med-Bay for a bit, and it's quiet, what about we walk around a bit so you can look around?"

Praxus looked around slowly. "Mmm…" he shrugged a wing. "I guess so…" he said uncertainly. He wasn't altogether sure that he wanted to walk about and risk running into Ultra Magnus or anybody else.

"It'll be perfectly safe." Ratchet said. "You need to learn a few things, too. Like this. This thing here is earth's version of a stop-sign."

Praxus looked at it and said nothing.

"The white figures are letters _S, T, O, P,_ and they spell the humans' word for 'stop.' _Stop._" He said 'stop' in English so Praxus could hear it.

"Ratchet." Praxus said, a tiny bit of a smirk on his face, "Auri has given me an English data-chip, which I did in fact download, so I actually know what it says."

Ratchet looked sheepish. "My apologies, Prax. I… um. It's just hard for me to keep up with what you do know and what you don't know. Y'know?"

Praxus nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes even _I_ don't know what I know."

Ratchet chuckled at the exaggeration, which made Praxus happy, and then they walked on.

"I've got English down," Praxus said, "And Auri explained about stop-lights and stop-signs. And right-of-way. Annnnd… a bunch of other little road rules. It sounds like driving around here is a real hassle."

"It _is_ a hassle when you first start, but after a little while, it becomes second nature to you and then it's hardly bothersome at all."

"I hope so." Praxus said, but he sounded fairly confident in Ratchet's judgment.

Then they rounded a corner, and Praxus halted swiftly with fearful hiss and backwards step.

"Hello, Prime, Elita." Ratchet greeted nonchalantly as the couple assumed casual poses.

Praxus turned and ran. He ran to the end of the block, and then he stopped. He wasn't supposed to run, he remembered. It was against one of the road rules. Prowl had mentioned that when tongue-lashing him the other day.

"Praxus, it's alright; come on back." Ratchet called.

Praxus bit his lip. He didn't want to go back. He was terrified of Prime. He was also scared of Elita, too, and the two of them together might make him panic. Ratchet would look after him, though, so… it would be okay. Hopefully.

He made himself take a step towards Ratchet. Then another step. Then a movement caught his attention to his right. Ultra Magnus was coming towards him from the right, raging up the block, ready to tear him apart in vengeance.

Praxus took another step towards Ratchet. Ultra Magnus was out of sight now, blocked by the building on the corner, but Praxus knew the mech was still coming after him. Perhaps Ultra Magnus was coming after him even more now that he'd taken a step to get away.

Praxus took two more steps towards Ratchet, and then two faster ones, and then he bolted, charging towards the medic. He ran towards Ratchet, and he saw Ratchet brace when he neared, but he ran past Ratchet and continued on up the street.

"Praxus? Praxus-! HEY!"

He didn't heed Ratchet's calls; he kept running, pedes pounding the pavement as he fled; getting as far away from Magnus was the only thing on his processor. He felt his system heat too quickly as he exerted it; it had been far too long since he'd exercised it. He would be panting heavily in three blocks, if not sooner, he thought. Perhaps Ratchet would intercept Magnus, though, and keep the bigger mech from coming after him.

He made it to three blocks, and his cooling system was gusting hard, but he dared not slow much or stop. He meant to get to Med-Bay before anyone caught him. He careened around a corner and dodged two bots and kept going. He dashed past Ironhide and Chromia's quarters, planning to take a round-about route back to Med-Bay. He wasn't entirely sure that he would be able to run the whole way, but he would try.

"PRAXUS!" Prowl shouted at him, "HALT!" Prowl ordered in his Enforcer tone.

Praxus slowed quickly and stopped. Prowl could shred him to pieces if he disobeyed, and he didn't want that. He stood there, chest and wings heaving hard as his miserable system overworked to cool him off, and he watched Prowl walk towards him. He felt a little sick, a little dizzy, dread knotting his inner workings. He thought he could almost see Prowl coiling up his verbal whip in preparation for the lashing that he'd deliver.

Prowl stopped before him and looked him over in brief before shifting a wing. "You will explain your behavior once you have cooled down." He informed.

Praxus nodded. He knew that. And he saw Auri coming up the street. She would protect him from Prowl, wouldn't she? He hoped she would.

His system had cooled by the time Auri got there. She stood a little ways off, but near enough that she could hear what he might say.

Praxus gave her guarded look then turned his attention to Prowl. "Ratchet and I turned a corner and came across th-the Prime and Elita-One, sir." He said to Prowl, "I spooked and bolted. I ran a block, and then I stopped because I _knew_ I shouldn't run. I started to walk back to Ratchet, but then I saw Ultra Magnus coming towards me from the side. And… and then…" he lowered his helm, "I… I… ran."

"And you knew it was wrong?" Prowl said.

Praxus nodded his helm. "Yes, sir."

"Yet you still ran."

"Yes, sir." Praxus said quietly, tucking his wings. The lashing would come now, surely.

Prowl's response surprised him, though. "Why?" Prowl asked.

Praxus bit his lip. "Ultra Magnus…" he said then faltered, "He… he was in an M-Y attack. Not one that I was involved in, but he was in one. And he was chosen to live and remember the utter horrors that M-Y did. Because of that, he is driven mad when he sees me because I have M-Y's marks on me. The ones who are chosen to live and remember are always like that… I think M-Y breaks part of their processors so they can't think rationally about M-Y members. The chosen ones panic or rage, flee or attack. From how Ultra Magnus has spoken about me, I think he would be the type to rage and attack. That is why I ran. I didn't want him to attack me. For, I could not attack him back or defend myself. And he _would_ kill me if no one intervened." He finished. It had been a long explanation, and he was both relieved and impressed that Prowl simply stood and listened to it all. "And I want to live." He added softly. Then he realized that Prowl might tie it back to his first night at NEST, when Praxus had fragmented his processor a little. Praxus felt his spark sink. He didn't want Prowl to think about that.

If Prowl did, though, he showed no sign of it. He simply inclined his head a little. "I see." He said, "Where were you intending to go?"

"Med-Bay, sir." Praxus said softly, "I meant to circle around and get back to Med-Bay."

Prowl studied him for several seconds and then looked over at Auri. "Go on to the office." He directed her, "I will return there once I have escorted Praxus to Med-Bay."

"Yes, Commander." Auri said with a little nod. Her optics lingered on Praxus for a moment and then she went on her way.

Prowl paused then looked back to Praxus. "Come." He said.

"Yes, sir." Praxus murmured. He fell into step to the side of and slightly behind Prowl.

"I intercommed Ratchet to let him know that you are with me." Prowl said after a few steps.

Praxus felt a little bit of softness in his spark, feeling touched by the kindness. _Nobody_ in the Con ranks would have done that, and Prowl seemed more like a Con than any of the other Bots that Praxus had met. "Thank-you, sir." Praxus said,

Prowl nodded dismissively. "Standard operating procedure."

"I meant thank-you for telling me that you told Ratchet!" Praxus retorted, feeling a bit provoked now. "Of course you would tell him, but you're not required to tell me! Why does nobody ever let me say thank-you without brushing it off?!"

Prowl gave Praxus a surprised look over his wing, and Praxus bit his tongue quickly, a shudder running up his chassis.

"I-I ap-p-pologize, sir. That outburst was… was… I sh-should not have said that."

"That outburst was understandable." Prowl stated slowly, "Ratchet has an aggravating habit of never accepting thanks. Even I find it somewhat provoking." He paused then spoke a little more quietly. "I should have graciously accepted your thanks instead of brushing it off as Ratchet does. Forgive me. I will try to avoid that behavior in the future."

Praxus stopped in his tracks as his jaw dropped. Prowl… Prowl had… had asked _him_ for forgiveness? He'd expressed aggravation over a small thing, and Prowl had taken it as correction for rude behavior? Prowl…

Prowl had turned and was looking at him questioningly. "Is there a problem?"

"I… I…" Praxus shut his mouth and moved towards Prowl to walk by him again. "No, sir. You… your response just… It wasn't what I expected, so I was a little stunned."

"I see." Prowl said with a contemplating tone.

They walked in silence then. After a bit, they came to the front door of Med-Bay.

Prowl opened the door and motioned Praxus in. Praxus lowered his wings in a motion of respect and went past Prowl into the Med-Bay.

Prowl followed and then he scowled as Praxus backed into him with a sharp hiss and a growl. Prowl pushed the taller mech away, but Praxus circled him and hid behind him.

"Um…" said Firestar. She was sitting on a berth with a data-pad in hand.

Praxus hissed and snarled softly but fearfully, and Prowl kept his wings very, very still, feeling how close Praxus was to them.

"Good day, Firestar." Prowl greeted the red femme. "Have you met Praxus?"

"No, sir." Firestar said with a shake of her head, "I heard a bit about him here and there, but haven' actually met him." She said in a friendly tone.

Prowl felt himself getting stressed. Praxus was violating his personal space. The dark Praxian was close enough that Prowl could feel the heat that radiated off his body. That was entirely way too close. Prowl didn't like it. Prowl also didn't like it that he couldn't think of anything else to say to Firestar.

"I see." He said, and that was all he could think of to say. He'd been planning to escort Praxus to Med-Bay and then leave, but it was clear that Praxus would panic if he left now, with Firestar there. "Well…" he paused, "I daresay I could introduce you to him."

"No…!" Praxus whispered desperately behind his back.

"But he is rather antisocial at present… so I am just going to take him to his room."

"Okay." Firestar said with an understanding nod.

"Come, Praxus." Prowl said, moving towards the hallway. Praxus followed, uneasily keeping Prowl between him and the red femme in the room. Once they were in the hallway, he scooted past Prowl and hurried to the 'safety' of his room, darting through the door.

When Prowl got to the room, he found Praxus sitting huddled on the berth in the corner, hugging his knees tightly to his chest, wings shaking a little. Prowl almost felt sympathy for him. Prowl _would have_ felt sympathy for him if Prowl hadn't been so intent on keeping emotion out of his life.

Praxus gave Prowl a slightly haunted look that was tinged with a bit of pleading. "Thank-you," he said softly, sounding like his spark had been torn a little.

Prowl nodded. "You are welcome." He said. Then he added slowly, "I do not like being forced into social situations myself. I would be loath to inflict it on anther bot."

"That's kind." Praxus said.

Prowl said nothing. It hadn't been kind; it had been logical. Or, that's what he told himself.

Praxus shuddered. "That femme, does she come here a lot?"

"She does not. She is medical backup, so she comes only when Ratchet and his juniors need an extra set of hands."

"Okay." Praxus said with a tiny sigh of relief.

"Why this reaction to her?" Prowl would have denied any curiosity, but it was there.

"I… I c-can't stand red femmes." Praxus said, hugging his knees more tightly, "The worst trainer I had was red. Orange is equally bad, but yellow isn't so much. Green, I will panic. Purple is scary. Black… and gray, fearsome. Blue is mostly okay. But pink is not. In fact, I'm not even sure why Auri doesn't freak me out, unless it's because she's so little."

"She does appear to be quite nonthreatening." Prowl commented, one corner of his lip lifting just a hint.

Praxus nodded. "She is tougher than she looks, though." He said.

"She is indeed." Prowl said. His mind wandered for a second. Then he brought it back. "Will you be 'alright' if I leave you here?"

Praxus looked guarded, but he nodded. "Yes, sir. If… if you tell _her_, the red femme, to stay away from me."

"Very well." Prowl said, "Before I go, I will tell her to let you be and not even come near your room. Ratchet should be here shortly."

"Thank-you." Praxus said softly.

Prowl nodded graciously then left.

Alone, Praxus sighed and lay down, curling up into a protective ball. All that had been eventful and stressful. The time leading up to his antivirus shot had been stressful, and then looking after poor Chromia had been stressful. And then, well, running away from Ultra Magnus had been completely stressful. Prowl had been oddly soothing, though. For as fearsome and terrifying as the Enforcer was, he seemed to be amazingly empathetic, which wasn't something Praxus had expected.

Praxus sighed again and then let his optics dim a bit. Then he closed them fully and dropped into recharge.

OoOoOoOoO

Auri entered Med-Bay roughly an hour after the lunch hour and found everything quiet and Praxus not present.

She tiptoed over to Ratchet, who was sitting on the couch with a data-pad in his hands.

"Where's Praxus?" she whispered.

"He's recharging." Ratchet whispered back, "Why are we whispering?"

"Because it's so quiet in here right now that it would feel strange to speak aloud."

Ratchet chuckled at her then, breaking the hush. "Oh, my dear Auri." He said, no longer whispering. "You are a treasure."

She hugged him. "You're a treasure yourself, Ratchet." She said, planting a kiss on his cheek.

He sighed as he drew her onto his lap and cuddled her. "I wish you didn't have to grow up." He said softly, "Wish you'd always be our sparkling, sweet and little, all innocent."

"I promise I'll stay sweet even when I'm not little." Auri said, "But, I don't like being so little, so I want to grow up. Imagine if every single bot on the whole base was taller than you, Ratchet. It would get old after a bit."

"Sweet-Spark, I don't wish to disappoint you, but even when you have gotten your final upgrade, you will still be shorter than every bot on this base."

"I do know that. They won't be so _much_ taller than me, though, as they are right now."

"True, true." Ratchet agreed gently. They snuggled in quiet then, Auri resting on the medic's chest with a sparkling-like serenity. Ironhide was her guardian first and foremost, but Ratchet was very close after. Sometimes he was better at being a guardian than Ironhide, Auri thought, but she'd never tell either of them that.

A security alarm went off, a base-wide alarm with klaxons and sirens.

Praxus came stampeding into the room, optics wide and wings high. "What _IS_ that?" he cried.

"Sh-sh," Ratchet soothed, motioning for him to come over. "No need to panic yet." He said, loosening Auri's grip around his neck.

Praxus sat beside him and hid his face against Ratchet's shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, his voice muffled.

"It's an alert that we've had a minor Decepticon sighting." Ratchet said, "Most likely nonthreatening. We've had security upped a bit since Soundwave's arrival."

"Mmm, oh." Praxus acknowledged, trembling a bit.

Ratchet put his arm around him, hugging him close, wanting to make him feel protected. Praxus resisted the embrace for a second then relaxed and let himself be comforted.

"Ah," Ratchet said after a moment. "Security intercommed me. It's the Cassettes."

"Cassettes?" Praxus asked.

"They're some little bots that belong to Soundwave. Symbiots. He's been expecting them."

Auri shifted and looked curious. "I wonder if I knew them." She said.

"I wonder if _I_ knew them." Praxus echoed.

"Well, we'll find out." Ratchet said, "Security's bridging them here." He gave his Praxians another snuggle and then shifted to leave them, setting Auri on the couch as he rose. "I need to make a couple notes." He said.

"Okay." Auri said. Praxus climbed onto the back of the couch then slipped down behind it to hide.

The ground-bridge opened up in the room, and Inferno and Springer came through with a feline, an avian, and two little mechs.

Auri squealed recognition, bounced off the couch, and charged them. "Eeeeeeeeeee!" She squealed, "My twiiiiiiiiiiiins!" She dropped to her knees and grabbed the two little warriors. "You shrinked!" she squealed, "My twins! My twins! My twinsies!"

"Help-!" Frenzy yelped,

"I love my twins!" Auri cooed as she squeezed and nuzzled them. "I love, I love, I love my –KITTY!" she dropped the twins and glomped Ravage. "I forgot about my kitty! Ohhhhh! My kitty! You shrinked, too! Oh, oh, oh. Shrunk. The word is shrunk." She corrected herself. She purred with delight as she snuggled Ravage on her lap, rubbing her face on his helm.

"You remembered us?" Rumble marveled.

"Yes!" Auri said, "But not until I saw you! Why, I don't even know what your names are!"

"I'm Rumble, he's Frenzy, and _Kitty_ goes by the name Ravage."

"Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage." Auri said. "Wait… where's… is there an avian? I remember an avian now."

"Laserbeak!" Rumble said happily. "Yep! He's here. See, Green-bot has him."

"Ooooh! Springer! Put down my avian! I want to hug him!"

Springer cocked an optic-ridge but released Laserbeak. Laserbeak glided over to Auri and let her subject him to a bout of immense snuggling and cooing.

"We used to play with her when she was a sparkling." Rumble explained loftily to Springer. "She thought we were sparklings, too, even though we weren't."

"We played all kinds of silly games, and she _loved_ it." Frenzy added importantly.

"MIAGH!" Rumble screamed, and all four Cassettes bolted. In three seconds, they were all hidden.

Everyone looked around, and all optics settled on Praxus after a couple sweeps. Standing behind the couch, he shrugged his wings uncomfortably.

"I vaguely remember teasing some small bots when Soundwave had me in the lab." He said quietly, lowering his optics.

"'Teasing'!?" one of the cassettes shouted incredulously from his hiding place. "You tormented us every chance you got! Little monster!"

"Come out, the lot of you." Ratchet ordered. The cassettes crept out and congregated around Auri, hiding behind her legs and shooting apprehensive looks at Praxus. "Now, listen," Ratchet said, "Praxus has been through a lot, and he's changed a great deal. He's not a little monster any more, and he knows that he shouldn't torment smaller bots."

"Knowing he shouldn't don't mean he won't." Frenzy said, absurdly bold in talking-back to the Autobot.

"That's true," Ratchet said, "But knowing that I'll reprimand and punish him for it will encourage him to not try it."

The twin cassettes looked happy then, their scarlet visors glowing a little more brightly as they grinned.

"Now,"

"SOUNDWAVE!" the little herd of Decepticons charged across the room, Laserbeak gliding ahead. Soundwave knelt in the doorway and embraced his cassettes, purring gently to them. There was unintelligible babble as all four cassettes tried to talk to Soundwave. He clicked gently to them, touching each one's head and neck, and after a few minutes, they calmed down.

Then Soundwave looked over at the Autobots.

"Must recharge." He said to Ratchet, gathering a weak Ravage into his arms. He rose stiffly and went back to his room with Laserbeak on his shoulder and the twins following at his heels on either side of him. In his room, he laid Ravage on his berth then picked up Rumble and Frenzy, setting them beside Ravage. They scooted around, and he lay down, lying face-down.

Then Ravage climbed onto his back and curled up in the small of his back. Rumble and Frenzy each curled up at his sides, one of the right, one on the left, and Laserbeak settled between his shoulder blades. He held off recharging for a moment, just wanting to feel the nearness of his pets for a few seconds. Then he gave himself up to recharge, knowing that his pets needed energy from him.

OoOoOoOoO

"Well," Inferno said, "Thet was quite a reunion, all of it."

Ratchet nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Good luck." Springer said, giving Ratchet a look that said he didn't envy him one bit. Then he and Inferno had to go. Auri told them bye and thanked them nicely for bringing in the cassettes. That amused them, but they were gracious. Then they left.

Ratchet looked slightly apprehensive. "I really hope he doesn't think he'll be keeping those little things here."

"Where else would he keep them?" Auri asked, optics wide.

"I… I don't know." Ratchet said, "Just… I have a bad feeling about the twins."

"You have bad feelings about all twins." Auri said, nodding to Praxus. Praxus chuckled. He'd heard about Ratchet and Sunny and Sides.

"Well… that _is_ true." Ratchet said, "But these are small Decepticon ones. They're tiny terrors on the battlefield. Who _knows_ what they'll be like in an amiable environment."

"They didn't seem to think me too amiable." Praxus said cheerfully, "I'll police them for you, Ratchet. I'll just say, '_boo,_' and they'll be scared into good behavior."

"I believe I told them that I wouldn't let you torment them."

"Shoot."

"Euphemism." Auri reminded Praxus. He wasn't technically supposed to use euphemisms for bad words, but he got away with it when she wasn't around and forgot when she was. He sighed and went to wash his mouth with soap.

"Hey," he said after spitting out his last mouthful of water, "We'll let Auri police them."

"They're this tall." Ratchet said, holding down his hand, "I can police them myself."

Praxus wasn't so sure. And neither was Auri, but both of them nodded politely and said, "Yes, Ratchet."

OoOoOoOoO

Night. Darkness. Ironhide awoke to terrible screams. Chromia was writhing, kicking, and crying, and shrieking into her pillow.

"Chromia," He sat and shook her gently, "'Mia, my love. Sh… Wake up."

"Oh-!" She cried. "Ironhide…" she shuddered and cringed away from him, "No," she sobbed, pressing her face against her pillow. "I c-c-can't s-stand it."

"Pain..?"

"N-no-oh!" she cried, "It's n-not the pain. It-it's- oh-ohoh, it's too terrible."

"What is, 'Mia?" Ironhide asked gently, stroking her back. He meant his touch to calm her, but she recoiled from it. "What's so terrible?" he asked softly, taking his fingers back.

"I don't want to talk about it." she said brokenly. Then she sniffled. "Just go back to recharge."

Ironhide hesitated, but then he lay back down. "Alright." He said gently. He stayed awake, though, a while after she'd dropped back into recharge, troubled thoughts tumbling through his processor.

He nodded off then woke up some time later to find Chromia gone from his side. He felt his spark aching with her pain and bit his lip. It was emotional pain along with physical pain; he feared… he wasn't sure what he feared, but he did fear. The light was on in the main-room, so he rose to go to see what that was about. Auri was with Prime and Elita, so he knew he'd only find Chromia.

He wandered in, blinking his optics a little as they adjusted to the light. "Hey…" he said gently by way of greeting.

Chromia gave him a semblance of a half-smile that touched only her lips, not her optics, but she stiffened when he started to come closer.

He stopped, and his optics searched her with concern. Why was she reacting to him like this, he wondered. He feared that it had something to do with Soundwave, or with the nightmare that she must have had, or perhaps both.

"'S fine." She said, glancing at him for a second and then looking back at the Energon cube in her hands.

He came over non-threateningly. "What's in the cube?" he asked to start conversation.

Chromia shot him a dry look. "Plain, straight. You locked up the high-grade."

He'd forgotten that.

"Here," she offered him the cube. He bowed and took a sip without taking the cube from her. "Bland, eh?" she said, but her attempt at humor sounded hollow and empty, and it wrung his spark.

"Chromia," he said softly.

She looked down. She knew she didn't have to fake anything with him.

He sighed then sat down on the couch, but he did not touch her; he gave her space. She'd recoiled from his touch after that nightmare, and she'd automatically stiffened when he'd approached; he deduced that she needed space. Too, she had to have had another nightmare, or she probably wouldn't have been up like this. He laced his fingers together, clasping his hands, signaling to his femme that he wouldn't be touching her unless she wanted it.

"What… do you need me to do?" he asked gently, "Or, not do?"

Chromia shrugged silently, looking down across the room.

Ironhide let her think.

"Listen," she said, "I guess."

He lowered his head in a nod. "I will listen."

She sighed a shaky sigh and bit her lip. Ironhide saw her fingers tighten around the Energon cube as if afraid of losing it.

She bit her lip, "We never told you that the drug I was addicted to was trilph, did we?"

"No," Ironhide shook his head. "The second time I ever found you completely over-energized, too buzzed to talk, Elita told me that you'd used to be a drug addict." He said softly. "But she didn't say on what."

She kept her optics down and fingered the edge of her cube. She paused then opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. A shudder shook her form, and she swallowed. She couldn't…. she couldn't… tears welled up in her optics.

"'Mia," Ironhide whispered, "No matter what happened, I love you, and my love is unconditional."

She nodded and choked back a sob. "I know." She whispered back, "It's just… h-hard t-to s-say…"

He nodded as he started to unclasp his hands. He stopped. "Do you want me to hold you?" he asked.

She looked conflicted. "I… don' know…"

Ironhide slowly unclasped his hands and reached over, putting the back of his fingers against her cheek.

She sniffled. "Yeah," she said, and he took her into his arms, cradling her tenderly. He cuddled her, not saying anything, troubled for her, and she kept silent in her misery.

"Soundwave…" she whispered after a while. "I already told you that he got me started on trilph… right?"

"Right." Ironhide said softly, feeling his chest tighten with rage a little. Blast Soundwave. And curse him. Frag his processor, and tear-

Chromia shifted to rest more securely against him. "He looks different from when I knew him." She whispered brokenly, "He… w-wasn't -or didn't look like- a Con when- oh, Ironhide-!"

"It's alright, Chromia," Ironhide said softly, "It's alright. He-"

"I slept with him-!" Chromia choked out.

Ironhide felt his head reel with the shock; he felt his processor overloading. Chromia was crying angrily now, and he forced his mind to come together; he had to be there for Chromia. He hugged her and gently rubbed her back, and he pressed his head against hers.

"L-lots-!" Chromia spat out between sniffles,

"Lots…?" Ironhide said gently, but he felt a sick feeling well up in him.

"I worked at a pub…" Chromia shifted against him, keeping her head against him, "He would come in; he… was quiet… courteous… every femme hoped he'd sit in her section b'cause he always treated us with respect and always tipped generously but never gave us attention or tried to mess with us like some mechs did. He started just sitting in m-my section. I was s-so j-jaded and d-dead tired that I didn't c-care… was just grateful for the tips.

"One day, I… I… stopped at his table as he was finishing, and he… stood and gave me… a n-note with an address on it and a p-passkey with it, and I… I looked up at his visor and the gentle line of his mouth… He brushed his fingers against my hand so softly, and said, 'Come join me for dinner?'"

Chromia paused for a second then went on. "I looked down, and then he murmured for me to think about it. I knew… I knew it wasn't… I knew he was upper-class, and I was s-s-street scum. Oh, 'Hide… His fingers were so soft, and his voice was so kind… I was dead tired that night, I went only to return the key… But… I ended up staying…"

Ironhide braced himself as Chromia paused.

"I told him I was t-too tired, but he… he brushed his fingers gently over my arm and said for me to stay anyway. I bathed in the only luxurious wash I'd ever seen, and then he cuddled me and fed me the best, finest Energon I'd ever had. I was so tired that I fell asleep in his arms… I woke up next to him on a soft berth, but I knew he'd not done anything to me in my sleep. We jested a little when he woke, and I was invited to come back the next night. I didn't get any money that morning. I went that evening, tired again… and we only snuggled… before I fell asleep… and then I went again, and again, and for some reason, I couldn't stay away. After a few nights of good sleep next to him, I wasn't so tired, and…" she trailed off. "Then I did more than just warm his bed."

Ironhide said nothing. He couldn't say anything; his vocals were jammed… choked up with the devastation that was flooding his system… and the rage at what Chromia had been through… at what had caused her to let herself be treated like that. And Soundwave-

"He was a dream…" Chromia murmured, "Every femme's dream… silky… romantic… he was the perfect mix of gentleness and power. He never hurt me… so thoughtful, respectful… luxurious. And the massages… 'Hide, he had magic fingers when it came to backrubs. I'd never been pampered in my life… until I entered his quarters."

Ironhide nodded sadly.

"I hated it when I had to leave him, but he'd kiss me good-bye and invite me back, so it wasn't so hard to leave, knowing I could go back. I always went back… he… he never gave me any money, so I didn't feel… like he was buying me. It felt like we were a couple… even though he was rich and I was street-scum.

"He was enjoyable to talk to… we talked about everything under the sun. And we went to clubs… danced… hell, Ironhide, he was spectacular on the dance floor. And you know how well I dance. We were hot. We were a couple. Everybody wanted to be friends with us, but we played it cool, accepted their 'friendship' but didn't reciprocate. We got away with it because we were so hot.

"One night I showed up as usual…" Chromia broke off with a little gasp of remorse, "And he was just gone, moved on. One of his servants had stayed behind to do one… last… thing." Her voice hardened. "Money. All th-the money I would have made if I'd been a… if he'd bought my _services_. The servant gave me that, and the servant was gone, too. And then I felt…" the hardness in her tone broken into tiny pieces, and she whimpered as she finished "I felt every bit as used and trashy as- the next... wh-h-"

"Shh-sh. You don't have to say it." Ironhide told her gently. He rocked her a little as she sobbed on his chest. He had no idea what he was going to do in the future, but for now he was going to hold her for as long as she needed him to, never letting go. He half-smiled bitterly as one thing suddenly made sense. One time, before they had bonded but after they had gotten serious, he'd gone off on a longer patrol, and she'd raged at him when he returned because he hadn't said good-bye or told her that he'd be late. She'd yelled at him and struck him and ended up sobbing and telling him to go away. He had, reluctantly, and afterwards he'd always made sure to say good bye when he left. Now he understood. She'd been afraid that he'd use her and leave her like Soundwave had.

Her sobs took a long time to subside, and then she sniffled and whimpered a while before growing quiet.

"Y' gonna be okay…" Ironhide told her softly, letting go of her with one hand for a moment to run the side of his forefinger just below his optics.

Chromia nodded.

A couple moments later, she sighed then shifted. "'night…" she murmured a second before dropping into recharge. She slept, but Ironhide didn't move to carry her back to their berth; he just lay down on the couch with her. He lay there with her in his arms and mulled over everything she'd said for a while and wondered what on earth he would do tomorrow. It was a long time before recharge claimed him.

OoOoOoOoO

(Day twenty-four after Soundwave's arrival; eleven after Praxus's)

Auri sat on a berth and swung her pedes as she waited for Ratchet to finish scanning Praxus. "Done yet?" she asked hopefully. Praxus grinned at her as he sat on the berth across from her.

"Done, finally." Ratchet said, giving Praxus's shoulder a rub, "Virus is all gone now." He told the young mech. "So, you're fit and fine."

"Fine maybe." Praxus said cheerfully with a light shake of his head, "But I am not fit at all. No endurance. I get winded and tired too easily."

"You'll gain that back." Ratchet assured him. "You just need to work on it a little bit at a time so you don't strain yourself."

"So… can I walk around the block?" he asked, getting off the berth. Auri hopped off her berth and stood by him. They were fast growing inseparable.

Ratchet paused. "Mm, yes." He said, "Only if Auri goes with you."

"Of course." Praxus said, "I wouldn't go out without a bodyguard." That made Auri giggle.

Ratchet shooed them out, and they scampered off happily, leaving him some time to himself. Soundwave and the cassettes were still recharging soundly, so he didn't have to worry about them. A bit of research had informed him that it was natural for symbiots to recharge together for a long period of time after extended separation. Soundwave and his pets (if they were average according to the data) probably wouldn't be awake or active until late that afternoon. That was a relief.

Ratchet settled down on the couch with some reading not related to his profession, but he couldn't focus on it. Something was bothering him. He was going to have to kick Praxus out of Med-Bay fairly soon now that he wasn't seriously unwell. (The budget department was already grumbling about how long Soundwave had stayed; it would be nearing a month in less than a week). He didn't want to kick Praxus out, though; he was getting pretty attached to his mech-ling.

There was a complication, too. All new bots had to share quarters with an established bot on base for a couple weeks. It was a slightly odd regulation, but it made enough sense. It ensured that new bots got to know at least one other bot and gave them sort of a guide… a buddy who helped them integrate into the culture and norms of NEST Base.

Ratchet had deep misgivings about how that would go for Praxus. If Ironhide didn't have his femmes, Praxus would have gone nicely with him, but Ironhide _did_ have his femmes, and it wouldn't be permissible for Praxus to sleep in the same quarters where Auri slept.

Bee had told Ratchet that it would be alright with him if Praxus stayed with him, but Ratchet wasn't entirely sure that Praxus would be alright with it. He'd heard about the resolution between Bee and Praxus, the beating and apology, and he'd seen the two young Praxians talking together after that, but he still couldn't picture them coexisting well.

Jolt was out of the question. Jolt was an edgy bot anyway without a fanged room-mate.

First Aid might work, but he had to be at another base for a while, and that would defeat the purpose of the regulation. Praxus would be alone in the quarters.

Well, Ratchet had to tell Praxus about it first, and he didn't look forward to that. Praxus would be upset, he knew. There might be some yelling. '_No! NO! I don't WANT to leave Med-Bay!'_ And Ratchet would try to explain things, and Praxus might whimper softly and lower his head and wings in the most reproachful way.

Ratchet sighed. He really didn't look forward to that. He would feel better, though, if he knew who he could have Praxus stay with. He, Ratchet, was out of the question because of his duties; working in Med-Bay meant he was in Med-Bay most of the time, often nights, and the financial gaggle would object if Praxus stayed in Med-Bay without being sick.

Soundwave scuffed in quietly, and Ratchet looked up at him sharply.

"Need Energon." Soundwave said,

"Hn." Ratchet got up and went to the storage cupboard. "How are the cassettes?" he bit out.

"In recharge. Gaining strength slowly."

Ratchet swirled the Energon in its cube, mixing in the metallic supplements that he'd poured in. "You have stinking lot of explaining to do about Chromia." He said abruptly, his tone harsh. He hadn't meant to bring it up, but it had been on his processor a great deal.

Soundwave nodded. "It was earlier in the war." He said slowly, "I needed to gather information on the Cybertronians' attitude towards the war, the Decepticons, Megatron's propaganda, and such. I needed a tool. I used Chromia. She worked a restaurant, so I lured her to me. I implanted listening devices in her armor while she slept, and they recorded while she worked. When she returned at night, I retrieved my sound files."

"You didn't just use bugs?" Ratchet bit out, loathing in his tone.

"They could have been detected too easily, especially the ones that transmit. Plus, she had other functions. I entered the social life with her. Mechs do better in dance clubs if they bring at least one femme; she was readily popular with her talent and my money. We became hot. Everyone wanted our attention. I learned much. It was very successful."

Ratchet choked on his rage.

Soundwave added, "Chromia also talked about her feelings regarding the war, and about the conditions on the streets. Very helpful input, though she knew it not. The trilph was issued in low doses unbeknownst to her, so she would feel the need to come back to me each day."

"You-"

"It proved successful."

"D-m you!" Ratchet was shaking with rage now, "You- you-"

"Then I had to leave her for another assignment."

Ratchet exploded with rage then, swore at Soundwave, and roared at him, telling him exactly what he thought of him.

Soundwave stood there and listened, comparing Ratchet with the other mechs who'd yelled at him over the past few eons… mainly just Megatron. Megatron's words were usually an expression of rage at everything, and Soundwave was merely someone who would listen. Megatron would rant at Soundwave for things that weren't his fault, and Megatron curse at him for any number of reasons. Ratchet was wholly different. Ratchet was ranting because a femme had gotten hurt. Ratchet was berating him for being a… there weren't any "nice" words for what Ratchet was calling him. Ratchet thought he'd done it coldly and hadn't regretted anything.

It had started out that way, Soundwave reflected. But then it had changed. Partway through, he'd started to feel soft feelings for the femme. Ratchet didn't know how sick it had made him to leave her with the knowledge that he'd set her on the road to ruin. He'd wanted to take her with him. He'd looked into it to see if he could've, but there had been several strict laws that would have barred him from doing that. It had hurt.

Ratchet hurled the Energon cube at him, and he caught it.

"TAKE THAT AND GET THE H-L OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Soundwave turned to go.

"Wait a second." Ratchet snarled, "Is there anybody _else_ that you've royally fragged that I need to know about?"

"Not that I know of." Soundwave said, feeling a slight pain in his spark. "And Chromia was a complete surprise. I never knew her by that name."

Ratchet glared at him.

"She came first. Sometime after I had left her, I found Auri, a tiny sparkling in the rubble. Much later, there was Praxus."

"Go away." Ratchet said, and Soundwave went. Soundwave didn't need his empathy-drive to know that Ratchet hated him down to his very inner gears.

Half an hour passed, and Ratchet slowly cooled down just a little. He still felt rage, though. Chromia… He couldn't stop thinking about her, and what her side of the story would be. She would be sick with rage if she knew that she'd unknowingly helped the Decepticons.

Praxus burst in through the doors, panting hard, looking terrified.

Ratchet opened his mouth to ask about Auri, but then she burst in, optics wide.

"For a recovering invalid," She said, blowing a little cool air through her system, "You sure run fast."

Praxus opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He was shaking.

Ratchet motioned him over, and Praxus lowered his wings a little and came. Ratchet rubbed the door-winger's back, in the center where his spine was from his waist up to a little below his wings, and it calmed him. The shaking eased.

"What made you run this time?" Ratchet asked, still working his fingers over the mech-ling's back.

"We came around a corner and there was th-the Prime." Praxus said, starting to tremble again.

"He wouldn't have hurt you, Praxus." Ratchet assured him gently.

"I… I… I _want_ to believe that, but something in me doesn't let me." Praxus said, looking troubled. "And I'm too scared to… t-to t-try t-to… I-I d-don't-t n-know-"

"Hey, shhhhh," Ratchet soothed, keeping one hand on Praxus's back and putting the other on his shoulder. "It's alright. I know you're scared, and I know it's hard to face fears. Believe me, I know. But, we'll get you through this."

"Yeah?" Praxus asked softly,

"Yeah." Ratchet said firmly. "We will. Prime, too. He doesn't want to be feared. Megatron wants to be feared; we all know that. But, Prime, he doesn't. He wants there to be peace and security between him and his bots. And he'll work for it. If things aren't right between him and one of his bots, he'll fix it, even if –actually, _especially_ if- it's his own fault."

Praxus mulled that over in silence. "I just don't want to get…" he looked over at Auri, "turned into scrap metal."

Ratchet shook his head, a dry smile finding its place on his face at the absurdity of such a suggestion. "Prime would never do that to you." He said, "That's not his way. He'll deal with you rather like Ironhide does. Only he's a little better at communications. 'Hide tends to be a bit blunt at times, and Prime's always careful with his words. Auri would agree." He added, looking over at Auri.

She nodded. "Prime's the kindest bot you could ever talk to, Praxus." She said.

Ratchet, his hand still on Praxus's back, though he could almost feel Praxus melt at her words. He realized, then, that there was some sort of bond between the two Praxian younglings that made Praxus trust Auri more than him. Praxus almost trusted her implicitly. Ratchet marveled about that to himself a moment then gave Praxus's shoulder a pat.

"She's right, you know." He said. "You should think about talking to Prime, but I won't make you do it."

"Thank-you, Ratchet." Praxus said, giving him a look of gratitude. He couldn't entirely express how grateful he was that Ratchet wouldn't force him into a discussion or situation. Countless times, time after time, he'd been forced into discussions and situations that he'd hated by the mechs and femmes over him. And Ratchet had almost never forced him to do anything. He treasured that, the kindness that Ratchet showed him. –Even if Ratchet thought it was nothing, it meant everything to Praxus.

"Run along." Ratchet said, giving him a nudge. "I'm sure you and Auri have something planned."

"_Shakespeare_ in the courtyard." Auri said, and Praxus grinned.

Ratchet paused as the younglings scampered off to the courtyard. Then he followed them. _This_ he wanted to see.

* * *

That... was a rollercoaster. O.o

Well… I'm going to be out of town next week, and things are busy, so I'm not going to be posting next week. I intend to post the week after, but I'm not completely sure that I'll be able to. I will make every effort to, though! Farewell until then. :)


End file.
